as in ethnic
of, relating to, or reflecting the traits exhibited by a group of people with a common ancestry and culture
a tribal solidarity that transcends all other loyalties or bonds
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 tribal
While casinos in rural areas may be more affected by tavern gaming, tribal nations in southern Wisconsin with casinos in Milwaukee and Madison appear more concerned with online sports betting.
—
Hope Karnopp, jsonline.com, 27 Oct. 2025
In preparation for that cliff, tribal leaders in Montana have started culling bison herds to feed their community members on one reservation where the population is disproportionately food insecure.
—Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 26 Oct. 2025
The project’s website says the pipeline is designed to avoid environmental areas and tribal lands.
—Sarah Henry, AZCentral.com, 25 Oct. 2025
Much of the expertise within organizations currently resides in people’s heads, and as such is tribal knowledge that’s never been formalized.
—Swami Chandrasekaran, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tribal
Hope Karnopp, jsonline.com, 27 Oct. 2025
In preparation for that cliff, tribal leaders in Montana have started culling bison herds to feed their community members on one reservation where the population is disproportionately food insecure.
—Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 26 Oct. 2025
The project’s website says the pipeline is designed to avoid environmental areas and tribal lands.
—Sarah Henry, AZCentral.com, 25 Oct. 2025
Much of the expertise within organizations currently resides in people’s heads, and as such is tribal knowledge that’s never been formalized.
—Swami Chandrasekaran, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tribal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tribal
Adjective
-
The camp is just around 30 miles away from the border with South Sudan, were a civil war and ethnic violence that began in 2013 led tens of thousands of people — many on foot — to flee to Uganda.—
Fatma Tanis,
NPR,
2 Nov. 2025
-
Gold sought to make a similar point with Fuji – an album named for a distinct genre from Nigeria’s Yourba ethnic group that critics like Zikoko’s Tomide Marv have since claimed is largely absent from its tracklist.—
Mankaprr Conteh,
Rolling Stone,
2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
And an even larger proportion of the same segment of American society, even those willing to contemplate the abolition of slavery, could not imagine a post-emancipation America of racial equality as anything but a nightmare.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
-
Major disaprities in prescription rates run across racial, economic and geographic boundaries, April 2025 research found, even to the point some Americans are cooking their own GLP-1 drugs at home to cut costs.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
28 Oct. 2025
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
Cite this Entry
“Tribal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tribal. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share