doctrinal

adjective doc·trin·al \ ˈdäk-trə-nᵊl , especially British däk-ˈtrī- \

|Updated on: 31 Jul 2018

Definition of doctrinal

: of, relating to, or preoccupied with doctrine

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doctrinally

play \-nᵊl-ē\ adverb

Recent Examples of doctrinal from the Web

At one Colorado colony, a dozen children died from malnutrition in 1906, and other start-ups since then have been plagued with doctrinal disputes.

— sam kestenbaum, New York Times, "A Forgotten Religion Gets a Second Chance in Brooklyn," 7 June 2018
Yet, even with the socialists’ doctrinal commitment, the party’s actual record of fighting for women’s equality and inclusion was lacking.

— olivia campbell, Smithsonian, "The Historical Struggle to Rid Socialism of Sexism," 12 July 2018
The pope’s decision came in a letter dated May 25 from Archbishop Luis Ladaria, head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, to Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German bishops’ conference.

— francis x. rocca, WSJ, "Vatican Blocks German Plan to Expand Communion," 4 June 2018
The Second Amendment still faces foundational uncertainties with regard to a wide range of doctrinal and theoretical questions — far more so than the First Amendment, which has generated a century’s worth of case law and scholarship.

— joseph blocher and eric ruben, Vox, "The Second Amendment allows for more gun control than you think," 14 June 2018
Patterson’s conduct has incited a major doctrinal debate.

— sarah jones, The New Republic, "The Religious Right’s #MeToo Reckoning Is Coming," 30 May 2018
Other cardinal red hats will go to the head of the Vatican office on doctrinal orthodoxy and another top Holy See official, and prelates in Osaka, Japan, and L'Aquila, Italy, which is still trying to rebuild after a 2009 earthquake.

— Fox News, "Pope Francis to create 14 new cardinals in June," 20 May 2018
The only appointments that could be considered routine were those of Archbishop Luis Ladaria, head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, and Archbishop Angelo De Donatis, who as vicar of Rome leads the diocese in the name of the pope.

— francis x. rocca, WSJ, "Pope Francis Continues to Boost Diversity in College of Cardinals," 20 May 2018
The Roman Inquisition began in 1542 as part of the Catholic Church's counter-reformation against Protestantism, and prosecuted people for heresy and other doctrinal crimes.

— Fox News, "Vatican's Inquisition, Index of Banned Books open for study," 14 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'doctrinal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.