topical

[ top-i-kuhl ]
See synonyms for topical on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. relating to or dealing with matters of current or local interest: a topical reference.

  2. relating to the subject of a discourse, composition, or the like.

  1. relating to or in a particular place; local: The themes chosen for World Meteorological Day reflect topical weather, climate, or water-related issues.

  2. Medicine/Medical. of, relating to, or applied externally to a particular part of the body; local: a topical anesthetic.

noun
  1. Philately. any of a collection of different stamps treating the same subject.

Origin of topical

1
First recorded in 1580–90; from Greek topik(ós) “local, pertaining to commonplaces” (see topo-, -ic) + -al1

Other words from topical

  • top·i·cal·ly, adverb

Words Nearby topical

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use topical in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for topical

topical

/ (ˈtɒpɪkəl) /


adjective
  1. of, relating to, or constituting current affairs

  2. relating to a particular place; local

  1. of or relating to a topic or topics

  2. (of a drug, ointment, etc) for application to the body surface; local

Derived forms of topical

  • topicality (ˌtɒpɪˈkælɪtɪ), noun
  • topically, 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