emotional

adjective

emo·​tion·​al i-ˈmō-sh(ə-)nəl 

1

: of or relating to emotion

an emotional disorder

2

: dominated by or prone to emotion

an emotional person

3

: appealing to or arousing emotion

an emotional sermon

4

: markedly aroused or agitated in feeling or sensibilities

gets emotional at weddings

emotionally

i-ˈmō-sh(ə-)nə-lē 

adverb

Synonyms of emotional

• passionate
• passional
• warm
• intense
• religious
• fervent
• demonstrative

Examples of emotional in a Sentence

He's a very emotional person.

worship at revival meetings often takes a markedly emotional form

Recent Examples on the Web

His three-day sentencing hearing featured emotional victim impact statements, tapes of his confessions to police and insights into his twisted desire for infamy and obsession with school shooters. — Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 30 July 2026

But University of Pennsylvania classics scholar Emily Wilson, who published her own translation of Homer's epic in 2017, says Nolan's script is poorly written and lacking in emotional depth and character development. — Dave Davies, NPR, 29 July 2026

Meanwhile, other storylines were timely and tugged at heartstrings, such as when her character officiated the first gay male wedding on daytime TV in a 2014 episode following Marlena’s emotional coming-out scenes with her grandson. — Jeff Nelson, PEOPLE, 29 July 2026

McCoy took one look at Clark's emotional display and immediately dropped the hammer on his fellow broadcaster. — Alejandro Avila Outkick, FOXNews.com, 29 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1834, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing emotional

• emotional blackmail
• emotional intelligence
• emotional quotient
• emotional support animal
• hyper-emotional

Rhymes for emotional

• devotional
• promotional
• motional
• notional
• unemotional

Kids Definition

emotional

adjective

emo·​tion·​al i-ˈmō-shnəl 

-shən-ᵊl

1

: of or relating to the emotions

an emotional upset

2

: likely to show or express emotion : easily moved

an emotional person

3

: causing one to feel emotion

an emotional speech

emotionally

-ē 

adverb