transitional

American  

[tran-zish-uh-nl, ‐-sish‐] / trænˈzɪʃ ə nl, ‐ˈsɪʃ‐ /

Also transitionary

adjective

1. of or relating to a transition from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another: transitional housing for people with serious mental illness.

   transitional governments;

   transitional housing for people with serious mental illness.

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Other Word Forms

• nontransitional adjective
• transitionally adverb

Etymology

Origin of transitional

First recorded in 1670–80; transition ( def. ) + -al ¹ ( def. )

Explanation

Sometimes people who have been laid off from their old jobs and haven’t been able to find new ones say they are in a transitional period. In other words, they are in the middle of a change. The adjective transitional relates to things such as governments, office spaces, or aspects of one’s life that are in the process of changing. This is a temporary state, until a permanent solution is established, and the word is often used with a sense of hope. For example, when someone goes through a romantic breakup and is hoping to find someone new, she might also say she is in a transitional phase. A synonym for transitional is interim.

Example Sentences

It represents a transitional form, linking earlier Cambrian arthropods that seem to lack chelicera with later horseshoe crab-like species known as synziphosurines.

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026

First Minister John Swinney, campaigning in North Lanarkshire, said his government introduced more than £900m transitional relief on business tax, telling BBC Scotland News that many businesses would see reductions.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

When Lurie announced plans to accelerate the city’s homelessness response with transitional housing and treatment beds, he name-checked the Schwabs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

Looking back, it seems from a technological standpoint that we were in a really important transitional time going into the ’90s.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

I explained to Mr. de Klerk that we could not tell our supporters to relax sanctions until he had completely dismanried apartheid and a transitional government was in place.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Related Words

• capricious
• fickle
• fluctuating
• mercurial
• protean
• shifting
• unpredictable
• unsettled
• unstable
• varying
• volatile