procedural

American  

[pruh-see-jer-uhl] / prəˈsi dʒər əl /

adjective

1. of or relating to a procedure or procedures, especially of a court of law, legislative body, or law enforcement agency.

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noun

procedurals plural

1. police procedural.

Usage

What does procedural mean? Procedural is used to describe things that involve a specific procedure—a particular way of doing something, especially one that is usually repeated in the same way each time. The word procedural is especially used in the context of formal, official procedures, such as those used in government and law. A procedural vote is typically one that is simply part of the process to move forward to a full and final vote on a matter. A procedural agreement is a kind of contract that governs how a collective bargaining process will be carried out. Procedural can also be used as a noun to refer to a procedural drama—work of fiction, especially a TV show, that realistically portrays a kind of professional work. A common type of procedural is a police procedural. The popular show Law & Order is a procedural. Example: This meeting is solely to deal with procedural matters—the debate on the actual issues will come later.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonprocedural
  adjective
• procedurally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• procedurals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of procedural

First recorded in 1885–90; procedure + -al ¹

Explanation

If you have to follow so many rules at work that it seems like nothing ever gets done, you could say that the procedural requirements of your job are getting you down. The adjective procedural describes something related to a required or standard course of action. Legal types are probably already familiar with the word procedural, which is often used to describe matters related to the law. The Senate, for example, may cite procedural roadblocks as the reason why nothing has been accomplish in a session. So that would give the Senate something in common with your workplace: having too many rules to follow — "procedural overload" — makes things take a long time.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

procedural procedurals

That should alarm you even if you never fly beer to a dry village, because forfeiture in America is not a procedural backwater.

From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026

The two are still required to check in with Romanian authorities as the case winds through procedural hurdles.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

The lawsuit alleges that the leased land is zoned exclusively for agricultural use and that the federal government violated laws requiring state and county notification, as well as procedural steps required before beginning construction.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

Collins voted against that bill but did vote yes on a key procedural measure that allowed it to come to the Senate floor.

From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026

Wickersham may have had a procedural point to make, but humiliating the officer seemed to be a larger one.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

Where Americans think of graphically violent procedurals as comfort watches, the British prefer their TV homicides to be much tidier: Serious violence occurs offscreen.

From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026

It’s part of a broader pattern for network procedurals with deep libraries, such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” which is consistently popular on Netflix.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026

But beyond the procedurals for which Wolf is famous, along with a few bright comedies, the broadcast primetime landscape is as creatively sparse as the dry brush covering the Permian Basin.

From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2025

She then spent roughly a decade working off-Broadway and cycling through small roles in indie movies and TV procedurals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2025

The predictability and formulaic nature of such procedurals, the very qualities that turn off some viewers and critics, are what its fans value.

From New York Times ● May 28, 2024