fractional

adjective frac·tion·al \ ˈfrak-shnəl , -shə-nᵊl \

Updated on: 16 Apr 2018

Definition of fractional

1 : of, relating to, or being a fraction

2 : of, relating to, or being fractional currency

3 : relatively small : inconsiderable

4 : of, relating to, or involving a process for separating components of a mixture through differences in physical or chemical properties

fractional distillation

—

fractionally

adverb

See fractional defined for English-language learners

See fractional defined for kids

Examples of fractional in a Sentence

There has been a fractional rise in the price of the stock.
There is only a fractional improvement in the new version.

Recent Examples of fractional from the Web

FlexJet, a fractional jet ownership company, will give two contestants a private jet roundtrip flight to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico for four days and three nights.

— nancy trejos, USA TODAY, "These are top travel contests you can enter in April," 5 Apr. 2018
Because crypto can be bought in fractional amounts, regular people can buy in for just a few bucks.

— ben popken /, NBC News, "Bitcoin loses more than half its value amid crypto crash," 2 Feb. 2018
Browse through the photos above for a look at some of the best prop bets for Super Bowl LII -- all American Odds (e.g. +200) are from BetDSI,eu and all fractional/UK Odds (e.g. 2/1) are from sportsbettingdime.com.

— demetrio teniente, Houston Chronicle, "The best prop bets for Super Bowl LII," 28 Jan. 2018
For those unfamiliar, fractional lasers (such as Fraxel) essentially resurface the skin by targeting specific areas with high-energy light.

— gillian fuller, Allure, "Blogger Juli Bauer Roth Shares Cystic Acne Before-and-After Photos," 21 Dec. 2017
That number is likely to prove a fractional estimate, not taking into account the damages from the uncontained fires still alight in southern California and not accounting for uninsured losses.

— annie lowrey, The Atlantic, "The Most Expensive Weather Year Ever," 20 Dec. 2017
Closer to home, in Austin, Texas, Ford has conducted pilots of fractional ownership models and, through its Chariot shuttle subsidiary, set up routes that blend public and private transportation.

— pete bigelow, Car and Driver, "Ford Drops More Hints about Its All-New Driverless Vehicle—Here’s Where It Stands versus Competitors," 11 Dec. 2017
But investors gave HP’s shares only a fractional lift in return, signaling some trepidation that a company still generating the bulk of its sales from personal computers and printers can sustain such improvements.

— dan gallagher, WSJ, "What’s Old Is New Again at HP," 13 Oct. 2017
Players don’t tend to fly so ferociously into tackles and give that fractional extra burst of lung-busting effort.

— martin rogers, USA TODAY, "U.S. men's national team has little margin for error after loss to Costa Rica," 1 Sep. 2017

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