scriptural
Americanadjective
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(sometimes initial capital letter) of, relating to, or in accordance with sacred writings, especially the Scriptures.
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rendered in or related to writing.
adjective
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(often capital) of, in accordance with, or based on Scripture
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of or relating to writing
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of scriptural
From the Late Latin word scrīptūrālis, dating back to 1635–45. See Scripture, -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.
Likely composed by the earliest Buddhist nuns in a variety of Indian languages between 600 and 300 B.C., the verses were later anthologized in Pali, the scriptural language of Theravada Buddhism.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026
James Baldwin’s soaring, sermonic prose; Toni Morrison’s scriptural authority; William Faulkner’s Genesis-like cosmologies of Southern identity and place: All draw heavily on a Christian-inflected aesthetic.
From New York Times • Aug. 24, 2023
Chan Buddhism, like Pure Land, deemphasized scriptural study but rejected the notion of personal devotion to a savior.
From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023
“He was a great pope, a marvellous pope. He was able to explain the scriptural matters of faith and also the traditional teachings of the Church,” said Father Callistus Kahale Kabindama, a priest from Zambia.
From Reuters • Jan. 4, 2023
‘In disputes about natural phenomena,’ wrote Galileo, ‘one must not begin with the authority of scriptural passages, but with sensory experience and necessary demonstrations.’
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
