What does racial mean?
Racial is an adjective meaning connected with race or with the social categories, inequalities, and identities associated with it. It appears in expressions such as racial discrimination, racial equality, racial prejudice, and racial diversity. The word commonly describes unequal treatment, exclusion, or conflict connected with race, but it can also be neutral, as in racial identity or racial diversity. Racial is not itself equivalent to racist: a person or institution can be racial in the sense that its practices or effects concern racial categories, while racist more specifically refers to prejudice or discriminatory attitudes. In public, legal, and academic discussion, the adjective often signals that an issue or pattern cannot be understood merely as an individual experience but involves social and historical distinctions between groups. Its usefulness lies in making those connections explicit without requiring the reader to infer them from context.
adjectiveRelating to race as a social, ethnic, or cultural category, especially to distinctions, inequalities, or characteristics connected with racial identity. It is often used to describe discrimination, prejudice, equality, diversity, or tension.
- Relating to race or racial categories.
- Involving prejudice, discrimination, inequality, or unequal treatment based on race.
"The organization is working to promote racial equality in education and employment."
"The report documented racial disparities in access to health care."
"Her lecture examined the history of racial inequality in the workplace."
A policy can be racial even when no individual involved intends it to be racist.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does racial come from?
Racial was formed in English during the 19th century by adding the suffix -ial to race, creating an adjective meaning “pertaining to race.” The English word race came through Old French race, although accounts of its deeper historical derivation are debated. Related English formations include racism, racialism, and racialization, all of which share the same racial vocabulary and reflect later developments in the discussion of racial categories and discrimination.
Related word forms
How racial is actually used
The adjective is neutral in grammatical form but commonly appears in contexts involving social identity, discrimination, inequality, or equality. Its meaning can refer either to race as a social classification or to the unequal treatment of people according to racial categories; the precise sense depends on the surrounding noun and context.
Easily confused with racial
Racial describes something connected with race or racial categories, whereas racist describes a person or attitude that supports prejudice or discrimination based on race.