racial

adjective

ˈrā-shəl How to pronounce racial (audio)
Definition of racialnext
as in ethnic
of, relating to, or reflecting the traits exhibited by a group of people with a common ancestry and culture a survey that included an optional question regarding racial identity, age, and other personal information

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 racial Dan Le Batard is unhappy with the racial makeup of NFL analysts on television. — Bobby Burack Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 Sep. 2026 Although not quite as polished on the racial politics front, Lanterns’s third episode is no less intriguing, as an hour of television dedicated not only to answering pressing questions but fleshing out its lead character in disturbing ways. — Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 31 Aug. 2026 The bank’s management started a campaign of racial discrimination, retaliatory performance reviews and position restructuring to replace him with less-qualified white executives, according to the lawsuit. — Charlotte Observer, 31 Aug. 2026 The White House has argued that, in directing resources to racial groups that have historically fallen behind, officials are discriminating against other students. — Kate Armanini, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for racial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for racial
  1. ethnic
  2. ethnical
Adjective
  • Some users have reported inaccuracies, and some experts have expressed caution about the reliability of facial age estimation tools, especially for women or certain racial or ethnic groups.
    — Barbara Ortutay, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
  • For Balthaser, these developments bore out some of the Jewish left’s warnings about Zionism as a project of nationalism, imperialism, and ethnic exclusion.
    — Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of ethnic
Adjective
  • Genocide is defined as attempting to partly or wholly destroy a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
    — Ellie Cook Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
  • The United Nations broadly defines genocide as seriously harming or killing members of a group with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
    — Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 12 Apr. 2022
Definition of ethnical

Browse Nearby Words

raceways
racial
racialism
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Racial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/racial. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All