racial

American  

[rey-shuhl] / ˈreɪ ʃəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to the social construct of race.

   racial diversity;

   racial stereotypes.

2. (no longer in technical use) of, relating to, or characteristic of one race or the races of humankind.

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racial British  

/ ˈreɪʃəl /

adjective

1. denoting or relating to the division of the human species into races on grounds of physical characteristics

2. characteristic of any such group

3. relating to or arising from differences between the races

   racial harmony

4. of or relating to a subspecies

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Other Word Forms

• antiracial
  adjective
• nonracial
  adjective
• racially
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of racial

First recorded in 1860–65; race ² + -ial

Explanation

Something racial is related to the characteristics people have because of their genetic or ethnic origins. Racial differences sometimes lead to racial tension. Members of the same racial group share a very old genetic connection — their ancestors lived in the same part of the world, and they're distantly related. When people talk about "racial diversity," they mean that many of these groups are represented, for example, in a single city. The noun race is at the heart of the adjective racial, and it comes from Old French, with an Italian root word, razza, "race, breed, lineage, or family."

Example Sentences

White working-class and precarious middle-class voters were alarmed not only at the upending of the racial caste system but also at what they saw as an unraveling of society in general.

From Salon • May 6, 2026

To conclude that partisan divisions negate racial divisions would be to assume that even the Civil War had nothing to do with race.

From Slate • May 1, 2026

The justices held that Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act doesn’t require states to draw election districts to achieve racial proportionality.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026

To prove a violation, Alito wrote, litigants will have to prove that legislators intentionally drew the maps to provide less opportunity to racial minority voters.

From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026

We must come to see, too, how our economic insecurities and racial resentments have been exploited for political gain, and how this manipulation has caused suffering for people of all colors.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander