archetypal

adjective

variants also archetypical
Definition of archetypalnext
1
as in classic
constituting, serving as, or worthy of being a pattern to be imitated St. Peter's basilica in Rome is considered by some art historians to be the archetypal structure in the baroque style

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in typical
having or showing the qualities associated with the members of a particular group or kind the movie's hero is pretty archetypal, lacking in any distinctive qualities that would distinguish him from countless other masked avengers

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of archetypal The clubhouse looks more Soho House than an archetypal northern non-League clubhouse. — Andy Mitten, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2026 Prada presented the skirt as a vocabulary, demonstrating the infinite possibilities that can emerge from an archetypal garment. — Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 28 Sep. 2026 Jones notes that actual letters found on Ball after his arrest, written to sustain the rebellion’s spirit, appeal to archetypal figures of the working land, including ploughmen like the one Garfield plays. — Jp Mangalindan, Time, 11 Sep. 2026 The archetypical Jersey Guy, to Fallon, is John Cusack in Say Anything. — Brendan Menapace, SPIN, 9 Sep. 2026 Instead, the company has replaced it with another fall flavor in a clear sign that the archetypal fall flavor of the 2010s is changing with the warming globe. — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2026 This certainly looked like an archetypal case of a company’s size leaving consumers worse off—precisely what our antitrust laws are designed to prevent. — James Surowiecki, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2026 The Soviet Union was an archetypal fragile superpower, its red star burning bright before its dramatic final implosion. — Ben Bland, semafor.com, 1 Sep. 2026 Still, the archetypal influencer in our cultural imagination is not a man reviewing watches on YouTube or hosting a podcast from his studio in Austin. — Laura Jung, Vogue, 25 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for archetypal
  1. classic
  2. typical
  3. exemplary
  4. normal
  5. quintessential
  6. average
  7. paradigmatic
  8. standard
Adjective
  • Ahead of rocking the Pond with its classic hits, the famed norteño band brought its signature sound and activism to NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert.
    — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • No list of books about Renaissance Venice (and its relations with Jews) would be complete without Brian Pullan’s classic study.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of classic
Adjective
  • Minutes from the April 19 meeting outlined how the government opted for just one round of readiness checks before launching its emergency vaccination program due to time constraints, instead of the typical four rounds.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Such moves are typical of presidential hopefuls from both parties seeking to bolster their alliances nationwide.
    — Matthew Choi, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of typical
Adjective
  • Setting the standard for luxury with exemplary service and culinary offerings, all at the heart of Santa Fe’s rich cultural center.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2026
  • In 2023, Leslie Van Houten was granted parole and released after holding what many described as an exemplary record for decades behind bars.
    — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of exemplary
Adjective
  • With stimulus checks gone and student loan payments back, Maggiulli suggests the drop may partly be a return to normal.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
  • In both cases, people with pre-existing hypertension experienced bigger drops in systolic and diastolic pressure than those with normal blood pressure.
    — MD Published, Verywell Health, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of normal
Adjective
  • Its frothy, pastel hues and single moment of contrived levity (when one dance claims a trumpet solo for a joke about jamming her toe) is one of those quintessential examples of Balanchine’s repertoire showing its age.
    — Lauren Warnecke, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Her tan suede look was set off by her burgundy elaphe leather pumps, bringing together two quintessential fall colors in one look.
    — Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of quintessential
Adjective
  • Mahomes himself has been better, posting his highest yards per attempt average and passer rating since 2022.
    — Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Asian jet fuel is trading at just over double the average last year, according to calculations by the International Air Transport Association.
    — Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of average
Adjective
  • The protagonist of a third paradigmatic example of the genre, José Eustacio Rivera’s La vorágine (The Vortex, Colombia, 1924), is not a landowner, but an urban poet swept into the violent world of the Amazonian rubber trade.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2026
  • In the most American of stories, the Idaho potato, forming half of the paradigmatic American meal (a burger and fries), only became a paradigm when gold was discovered in Idaho in 1860.
    — Tamar Adler, Vogue, 3 June 2026
Definition of paradigmatic
Adjective
  • Those changes seem to be linked to metabolic shifts, among them reductions in the load of glucose, the body’s standard fuel, which is produced mostly from carbohydrates.
    — Rowan Jacobsen, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Politics, as was still possible on plenty of stages a decade and a half ago, is the spice added to the deeply standard meat and potatoes of its structure.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of standard

Browse Nearby Words

arches
archetypal
archetype
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Cite this Entry

“Archetypal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/archetypal. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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