1
as in titular
being something in name or form only
he was the nominal head of state—everyone knew the country was actually run by one of his advisers
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2
as in slight
so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention
when you pay $400 for an airline ticket, a ticketing fee of five dollars seems nominal
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as in substantive
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Examples of nominal in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Contessa Brewer,jessica Golden, CNBC, 14 Aug. 2024
Early voting is underway for Florida’s Aug. 20 primaries, and Mucarsel-Powell and Scott face nominal competition for their party's nominations.
—Carmen Sesin, NBC News, 12 Aug. 2024
On this day in 1945: Japan proposed to accept the World War II surrender terms of the Potsdam Declaration on the condition that the emperor be allowed to remain the country’s nominal head of state.
—The Arizona Republic, 9 Aug. 2024
At the end of the quarter, Maersk said its nominal fleet was 10.4 percent larger than at the same time in 2023.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 7 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for nominal 
Adjective
The nominal tax would have applied to customer winnings in states with multiple operators that have a tax rate over 20%, including Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont.
—Contessa Brewer,jessica Golden, CNBC, 14 Aug. 2024
Early voting is underway for Florida’s Aug. 20 primaries, and Mucarsel-Powell and Scott face nominal competition for their party's nominations.
—Carmen Sesin, NBC News, 12 Aug. 2024
On this day in 1945: Japan proposed to accept the World War II surrender terms of the Potsdam Declaration on the condition that the emperor be allowed to remain the country’s nominal head of state.
—The Arizona Republic, 9 Aug. 2024
At the end of the quarter, Maersk said its nominal fleet was 10.4 percent larger than at the same time in 2023.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 7 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for nominal
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nominal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Nominal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nominal. Accessed 20 Sep. 2024.
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