partial

American  

[pahr-shuhl] / ˈpɑr ʃəl /

adjective

1. being such in part only; not total or general; incomplete: a partial payment of a debt.

   partial blindness;

   a partial payment of a debt.

   Synonyms:

   limited, imperfect, unfinished

   Antonyms:

   complete

2. biased or prejudiced in favor of a person, group, side, etc., over another, as in a controversy.

   a partial witness.

   Synonyms:

   unjust, unfair, one-sided

   Antonyms:

   fair, unbiased

3. pertaining to or affecting a part.

   Antonyms:

   complete

4. being a part; component; constituent.

5. Botany. secondary or subordinate.

   a partial umbel.

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noun

1. Bridge. part-score.

2. Acoustics, Music. partial tone.

idioms

1. partial to, having a liking or preference for; particularly fond of.

   I'm partial to chocolate cake.

partial British  

/ ˈpɑːʃəl /

adjective

1. relating to only a part; not general or complete

   a partial eclipse

2. biased

   a partial judge

3. having a particular liking (for)

4. botany

   1. constituting part of a larger structure

      a partial umbel

   2. used for only part of the life cycle of a plant

      a partial habitat

   3. (of a parasite) not exclusively parasitic

5. maths designating or relating to an operation in which only one of a set of independent variables is considered at a time

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noun

1. Also called: partial tone.  music acoustics any of the component tones of a single musical sound, including both those that belong to the harmonic series of the sound and those that do not

2. maths a partial derivative

Other Word Forms

• overpartialness
  noun
• partialness
  noun
• nonpartial
  adjective
• overpartial
  adjective
• partially
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of partial

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English parcial “biased, particular,” from Middle French, from Late Latin partiālis “pertaining to a part,” equivalent to Latin parti- (stem of pars ) “piece, portion” + -ālis adjective suffix; see part, -al ¹

Explanation

If you describe something as partial, you're usually saying it's just part of the whole, or incomplete. Say someone asks how you started your band and you say, "I bought a guitar." That would be a partial answer, at best. Partial has another meaning, too. If you say you are partial to something, you are expressing a fondness for it. Or not. If someone asks you whether you still love your husband after 50 years of marriage, for example, and you say, "I'm partial to him," you're either joking or politely saying "Not really." Being partial to something is to love as a warm stove is to a bonfire.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

partial

The other noteworthy aspect was the 417 million-euro boost to free cash flow from the partial stake sale in Daimler Truck, which realized a 160 million-euro gain, Bernstein adds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

But while Drapatyi's appointment has been generally welcomed, it only represents a partial fix by a president scrambling to repair the damage caused by his removal of Fedorov.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

An ICE spokesperson said the delay was due to the partial government shutdown earlier this year, which closed the Department of Homeland Security for 76 days, before reopening in early May.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

The downbeat earnings come as Hyundai’s unionized auto workers in South Korea are staging partial walkouts for a second straight week to demand higher wages, doubling strike hours to four per shift this week.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

“I do not know what I could imagine, but I confess that I have seldom seen a face or figure more pleasing to me than hers. But I am a partial old friend.”

From "Emma" by Jane Austen

Related Words

• one-sided
• unfair