What does adjectival mean?
Adjectival describes anything that functions as, relates to, or has the character of an adjective. In grammar, many words and phrases that are not formally adjectives still perform adjectival work: participles ('a broken window'), nouns used attributively ('a stone wall'), and relative clauses can all modify a noun in an adjectival way. The term gives linguists and teachers a precise label for this behaviour, distinguishing what a word does from what class it technically belongs to. Less commonly, 'adjectival' serves as a noun meaning a word or phrase that acts as an adjective, as when students are asked to find the adjectivals in a sentence. The word carries a scholarly, technical register and appears mainly in dictionaries, textbooks, and linguistic analysis rather than casual speech. It derives from 'adjective', tracing back through Late Latin adiectivus to the Latin verb adiicere, 'to throw toward' or 'add'.
Of, relating to, or functioning as an adjective.
"The phrase 'full of energy' has an adjectival role in the sentence, even though it contains no true adjective."
Primarily found in grammatical and linguistic discussion rather than general conversation.
A word or group of words that functions as an adjective.
"The teacher asked the class to underline every adjectival in the passage."
Used almost exclusively in linguistics and language teaching; plural is 'adjectivals'.
Applies only to the noun sense, referring to multiple words or phrases functioning as adjectives.
"The analysis identified several adjectivals embedded within the longer noun phrases."
In 'the singing bird', no adjective appears at all — yet 'singing' is doing an adjectival job, which is exactly why grammarians needed this word.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of adjectival
Adjectival derives from 'adjective', which comes from Late Latin adiectivus, from the Latin verb adiicere, meaning 'to throw to' or 'add'. The suffix '-al' was added in English to form the relational adjective, first attested around the mid-19th century. It shares its Latin root with related terms such as 'adjunct' and 'conjunction', all built on the idea of something added or joined to another element.
Related word forms
How adjectival is actually used
Chiefly used in formal, academic, and linguistic contexts rather than everyday conversation. When used as a noun (plural 'adjectivals'), it appears almost exclusively in grammar teaching and linguistics writing.
Easily confused with adjectival
'Adjective' is the word class itself (e.g. 'happy', 'tall'), while 'adjectival' describes anything that functions like or relates to an adjective, including words that are not strictly adjectives.
'Objective' means based on facts or unbiased, whereas 'adjectival' pertains to adjectives and their grammatical function.