societal

[ suh-sahy-i-tl ]

/ səˈsaɪ ɪ tl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR societal ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

noting or pertaining to large social groups, or to their activities, customs, etc.

Nearby words

socialize, socialized medicine, socially, socially excluded, socially included, societal, societal development, societal marketing, society, society islands, society of friends

Origin of societal

First recorded in 1895–1900; societ(y) + -al¹

Related forms

so·ci·e·tal·ly, adverban·ti·so·ci·e·tal, adjectivean·ti·so·ci·e·tal·ly, adverbin·ter·so·ci·e·tal, adjective

non·so·ci·e·tal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for societal

He becomes increasingly paranoid by the societal fixtures around him—a ticking clock, a ringing phone.
‘Interstellar’ Is Wildly Ambitious, Very Flawed, and Absolutely Worth Seeing|Marlow Stern|November 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Reactionaries were the industrialists, who wanted little or no societal change.
From The Square Deal to The New Deal: The Overlapping Political Identities of TR and FDR|John Avlon|September 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This is so much more of a societal issue than just a commercial issue.
This 3-D Printer Can Change Fashion's Diversity Problem|Erin Cunningham|June 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In other words, we have a perfect storm of societal systems that disproportionately target our LGBT youth.
Believers Must Fight for Gay Teens|Gene Robinson|May 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Kremlin television began airing documentaries blaming sites like VK for all manner of societal ills.
Moscow’s War on Social Media Claims a New Casualty|Jacob Siegel|April 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The affected person became dangerous to others, and was forced to banish himself from societal contact with them.
Folkways|William Graham Sumner
The nuclear family of the civilization of literacy has been absorbed in the illiterate dynamics of societal functioning.
The Civilization of Illiteracy|Mihai Nadin
The whole problem of mutual service is the great problem of societal organization.
Folkways|William Graham Sumner
They did not verify when the attempt was made to use them for societal needs.
Folkways|William Graham Sumner
Therefore the assumed knowledge of the facts of kinship was used as the basis of a whole series of societal conventions.
Folkways|William Graham Sumner

British Dictionary definitions for societal

societal

/ (səˈsaɪətəl) /

adjective

of or relating to society, esp human society or social relations

Derived Forms

societally, adverb

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

societal

adjective

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of societal

Related forms

Examples from the Web for societal

British Dictionary definitions for societal

societal

adjective

Derived Forms