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biographical

American

[bahy-uh-graf-i-kuhl] / ˌbaɪ əˈgræf ɪ kəl /

Also biographic

adjective

of or relating to a person's life.

He's gathering biographical data for his book on Milton.
pertaining to or containing biography.

a biographical dictionary.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of biographical

First recorded in 1730–40; biograph(y) + -ical

Explanation

Anything biographical has to do with the story of someone's life. If you're reading a biography of Margaret Mead, you might enjoy learning biographical details, like that she was the oldest of five children. A biography is a book about someone's life. Anything biographical can be from a biography, as in an actual book about someone, or just facts from a person’s life. Biographical information could be where someone is from, where they grew up, where they went to college, or when they became famous. Biographies are usually written about famous people, but everyone has biographical details about their own lives, too.

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Vocabulary lists containing biographical

Words to Live By: Bio

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Literary Terms, Grade 6, Unit 1

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List 6

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

biographical

The scandal fueled a media circus and was chronicled in a book, multiple podcasts, and the biographical mini-series "The Dropout" that starred Amanda Seyfried.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

The critically-acclaimed biographical drama about the final monarch of China's Qing dynasty starred Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole and Vivian Wu.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

For months after the attacks, the New York Times ran short biographical sketches of the victims—firefighters, flight attendants, bankers, restaurant workers, Pentagon employees.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

Lamb and Well take a more biographical approach rather than dipping heavily into broader cultural conversations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026

A correspondence course in English; likes to read biographical novels and occasionally other kinds of novels.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023