personal

noun

1

: a short newspaper paragraph relating to the activities of a person or a group or to personal matters

2

: a short personal communication in a special column of the classified ads section of a newspaper or periodical

3

: personal foul

Examples of personal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The feedback is quick and the accountability personal. —Veronique De Rugy, Oc Register, 19 May 2026

In the space of 10 days in late April 2026, insurgents in Pakistan purportedly carried out 27 attacks in the country’s southwest province of Balochistan, killing at least 42 military personal. —Amira Jadoon, The Conversation, 13 May 2026

Suddenly the Shaggs were an ’80s dorm-room favorite, and suddenly — a personal aside here — fans like me were actually naming their cats Foot Foot. —Chris Willman, Variety, 15 Mar. 2026

When Prince was born in 1958, mid-twentieth-century America’s expectations that women set aside their ambitions and personal wants to raise children bore down hard on Mattie, who became responsible for rearing Prince and Tyka. —Literary Hub, 17 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing personal

• great personal sacrifice
• nothing personal
• on a personal level
• personal ad
• personal belongings
• personal best
• personal computer
• personal digital assistant
• personal effects
• personal equation
• personal foul
• personal loan
• personal pronoun
• personal property
• personal protection equipment
• personal protective equipment
• personal representative
• personal space
• personal tax
• personal trainer
• personal union
• personal worth
• the personal column

Rhymes for personal

• impersonal
• nonpersonal
• transpersonal
• interpersonal
• intrapersonal

Kids Definition

personal

1 of 2 adjective

per·​son·​al ˈpərs-nəl 

-ᵊn-əl

1

: of, relating to, or belonging to a person : private

personal property

2

a

: done in person

b

: proceeding from or directed to a single person

c

: carried on between individuals directly

3

: relating to the person or body

your personal appearance

4

: closely related to an individual : intimate

5

: indicating grammatical person

personal

2 of 2 noun

: a short paragraph or ad in a newspaper relating to personal matters

Legal Definition

personal

adjective

per·​son·​al

1

: of, relating to, or affecting a person: as

a

: of, relating to, or based on the existence or presence of a person see also personal injury, personal jurisdiction at jurisdiction

b

: of, relating to, or restricted to a natural person and his or her rights, obligations, affairs, assets, or lifetime

refused to disclose personal information

released on personal recognizance

2

: of, relating to, or constituting personal property

personal effects

see also personal property at property compare real

personally adverb