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transitional

adjective

Simple meaning

Temporary; pending the implementation of something new.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

transishuhnuhl

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

tɹænˈsɪʃənəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Of or relating to or characterized by transition

    “Adolescence is a transitional stage between childhood and adulthood.”

  2. Temporary; pending the implementation of something new

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Of or relating to or characterized by transition

Used this way, transitional is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“Adolescence is a transitional stage between childhood and adulthood.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use transitional

  • “Adolescence is a transitional stage between childhood and adulthood.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

transitional objecttransitional epitheliumtransitional periodtransitional stagetransitional phasetransitional celltransitional provisionstransitional zone

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.