familial

adjective fa·mil·ial \ fə-ˈmil-yəl , -ˈmi-lē-əl \

Updated on: 11 Apr 2018

1 : tending to occur in more members of a family than expected by chance alone

a familial disorder

2 : of, relating to, or suggestive of a family

has familial ties to the area

a familial atmosphere

See familial defined for English-language learners

See familial defined for kids

Examples of familial in a Sentence

The company has created a familial atmosphere in its offices.
it's a familial duty as well as a tradition for everyone in my family to eat dinner together

Recent Examples of familial from the Web

Haney recruited a solid and, at times, brilliant cast to guide us through this familial madness.

— david lyman, Cincinnati.com, "Review: Cincy Shakes' 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' a monumental family drama," 7 Apr. 2018
Fighters and civilians with familial ties to the group are being rejected, residents said.

— louisa loveluck, Washington Post, "Civilians trapped as Syrian airstrikes pound rebels’ final Damascus stronghold," 6 Apr. 2018
Unlike many other altolusso hotel collections, burnishing their brands with gold star inflation, Belmond's mission is to create a familial atmosphere.

— charles curkin, ELLE Decor, "This Gorgeous Hotel In A Renaissance-Era Convent Will Blow You Away," 4 Apr. 2018
In her first audition, Harris revealed her familial ties to music royalty.

— eileen reslen, Good Housekeeping, "Get to Know Amelia Hammer Harris, the "American Idol" Contestant Everyone Is Talking About," 31 Mar. 2018
There are a plethora of other factors, including social and familial pressures that contribute to the development of depression.

— WSJ, "Depression Is All Too Real for Many Teens," 16 Mar. 2018
Dalton comes prepared and gets to the point, aiming to put wine into the familial, historical, geographical and cultural context of his guest.

— mike dunne, sacbee, "Forget taste and smell. Sound is the new way to sell wine to millennials | The Sacramento Bee," 14 Mar. 2018
There are two types of ALS, sporadic, which is most common, and familial.

— euan mckirdy, CNN, "What is ALS, the condition Stephen Hawking lived with for over 5 decades?," 14 Mar. 2018
Their love of music is lifelong and familial, spanning universes of music from gospel to jazz, pop, standards and opera.

— matt mccall, Daily Southtown, "Oak Lawn couple to perform at Irish Heritage Celebration at Chicago Symphony Center," 1 Mar. 2018

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