transitional

adjective

tran·​si·​tion·​al tran(t)-ˈsi-sh(ə-)nəl 

tran(t)-ˈsi-zh(ə-)nəl, 

tran-ˈzi-sh(ə-)nəl 

: marked by transition : involving, providing, or consisting of a passage, movement, or change from one state, condition, subject, place, etc., to another

a transitional passage in music

They are often transitional areas between water environments and dry land, and are populated by many trees and plants that can put up with the occasional flood …

—JoAnn Shroyer

The social worlds of neighborhood and village are now less important as transitional zones between home and nonhome settings.

—Theano S. Terkenli

… turning into a civilian coup, that … established a transitional government and prepared the way for multi-party elections.

—Larry Diamond

… an animal about the size of a turkey that they contend was a flightless bird, a transitional figure between some carnivorous dinosaurs and modern birds.

—John Noble Wilford

transitionally adverb

The problem then is to structure a sequence of reforms that is politically consistent with the social mores of the Soviet Union, economically coherent, and transitionally sound …

—Edgar L. Feige

Examples of transitional in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In a poll by El Toque, an independent digital media platform run by Cuban journalists in exile, 54% of respondents inside Cuba said exiles should take part in a transitional government on equal terms. — Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2026

Their appointment at Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella comes in a transitional phase for the Italian beauty brand. — Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 24 Sep. 2026

Earlier this week, the 29-year-old model seamlessly blended classic autumnal staples with sporty accessories for a fresh twist on transitional dressing. — Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 23 Sep. 2026

The transitional government's dissolution was envisaged as part of the road map to elections. — ABC News, 23 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1819, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for transitional

• additional
• conditional
• nutritional
• positional
• traditional
• volitional
• compositional
• definitional
• depositional
• dispositional
• intuitional
• nontraditional

Medical Definition

transitional

adjective

tran·​si·​tion·​al

-ˈish-nəl, -ˈizh-ən-ᵊl

1

: of, relating to, or characterized by transition

2

: of, relating to, or being epithelium (as in the urinary bladder) that consists of several layers of soft cuboidal cells which become flattened when stretched (as when the bladder is distended)