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

Just as the knits, outerwear, and other transitional staples get stashed away into bins and storage units, the boots and lug-sole footwear are traded for easy, breezy flip-flops, classic sandals, loafers—and now, the soft ballet flat. —Cortne Bonilla, Vogue, 28 Apr. 2025

There are plenty of statistical indicators that suggest otherwise, not least the fact that the team’s fast break attacks have plummeted after a spike early in the Italian’s tenure: During that period of relatively direct, transitional football, Maresca’s unease was palpable. —Liam Twomey, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2025

The facility will also include a transitional living apartment that simulates a residential environment, where patients can practice daily living tasks in preparation for a smooth transition back home. —Anne Gelhaus, Mercury News, 27 Apr. 2025

Jaime Arturo Carrillo, 48, of South Los Angeles, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of the same charge after FEMA granted him transitional sheltering assistance amounting to over $2,000. —Kaitlyn Huamani, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2025

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)