sociological
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or characteristic of sociology and its methodology.
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dealing with social questions or problems, especially focusing on cultural and environmental factors rather than on psychological or personal characteristics.
a sociological approach to art.
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organized into a society; social.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sociological
First recorded in 1835–45; sociolog(y) + -ic + -al 1
Explanation
Anything sociological has to do with how society works. Sociological research — like, say, a sociological study that looks at economic inequality in a country — focuses on what people are doing not as individuals but as a group, Sociology is the study of how societies function—the way they form, what rules they follow, the way change affects them, and so on. Things that are related to sociology are sociological, and people who are particularly interested in sociological things are sociologists. They study things like the effects of technology or the role of art in a society. The Latin root of sociological is socius, "associate."
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.
But Erikson immersed himself in the community for more than a year and, in 1978, published “Everything in Its Path,” a foundational work in the sociological literature and a finalist for a National Book Award.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025
If his sociological role is symbolic, his psychology adds depth.
From BBC • Sep. 24, 2025
This is a blinkered and shallow understanding of religion that crumbles under historical or sociological scrutiny.
From Slate • Jul. 9, 2025
My years in the animal care industry were a sociological study that gave me a peek at our culture’s real monsters.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2025
This chapter has pointed instead to a sociological reality—the scientific network—and more concretely, the small crowd that surrounded Périer on the summit of the Puy-de-Dôme.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
