Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

phrasal

American  
[fray-zuhl] / ˈfreɪ zəl /

adjective

  1. of, consisting of, or of the nature of a phrase or phrases.

    phrasal construction.


phrasal British  
/ ˈfreɪzəl /

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or composed of phrases

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of phrasal

First recorded in 1870–75; phrase + -al 1

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:

But what about phrasal gaffes that make just as much, if not more, sense than their correct counterparts?

From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2022

Repetition has an indelible place in Black expressive culture: in the syncopated rhythms of jazz, the phrasal repetitions of the blues and the guttural moans of soul made meaningful by dint of remarkable vocal performances.

From New York Times ● Mar. 4, 2021

Kafka’s work includes plenty of the hurdles to machine reading recently cataloged by a group of Indian computer scientists, including “complex phrasal structures” and the fact that words can have different meanings in different contexts.

From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2018

Cline loves phrasal fragments: “The dark maritime cypress packed tight outside the window, the twitch of salt air.”

From The New Yorker ● May 30, 2016

Of this a few verbal and phrasal instances will suffice.

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 15 by Sir Richard Francis Burton

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 14,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training