FEDERAL Synonyms: 78 Similar and Opposite Words

federal 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of federal

as in national

of or relating to a federation or to its central government A federal system of government distributes power between a country's central and regional governments. The President, Congress, and the Supreme Court are all part of the federal government of the United States.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Federal

2 of 2

noun

as in fed

Related Words

as in Confederate

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

civilian

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of federal

Adjective

Addis Ababa has accused Egypt, Eritrea, and Sudan of supporting armed ‌opposition groups that have fought Ethiopia’s federal troops in the northern Tigray region since last week. — Paige Bruton, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2026 Families with household income up to 400% of the federal poverty level qualify, meaning a family of four earning up to $132,000 a year could apply for the 2026–27 school year. — Fernanda Tronco, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026 Oxford Police Department A father and son who worked at a Mississippi smoke shop were charged by federal prosecutors in connection with one of the two Ole Miss student deaths that took place last week. — ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026 The Digest Nine museums in Switzerland are teaming up, with federal funding, to research the provenance of over 6,300 objects from Cameroon in their collections. — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 2 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for federal

Recent Examples of Synonyms for federal

Adjective

The vote was part of Sunday's latest round of Swiss referendums on local and national issues.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 28 Sep. 2026
The storm was expected to approach the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a national conservation area northwest of the islands, early this week.

— Eugene Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026

Definition of national

Noun

Watermelon has a high glycemic index (GI) but a low glycemic load (GL), while papaya has a medium GI and a low GL, making both suitable for people monitoring blood sugar.

— Heather Jones, Verywell Health, 25 Sep. 2026
Boston Children's was also top-ranked in the area of neonatology, pediatric gastroenterology & GI Surgery, pediatric nephrology, pediatric neurology & neurosurgery, pediatric pulmonology & lung surgery and pediatric urology.

— Neal Riley, CBS News, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of GI

Adjective

As a public university, ASU could also assert statutory governmental immunity, a legal doctrine protecting public entities from liability in certain circumstances, including some policy-level decisions.

— Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 30 Sep. 2026
Lula, meanwhile, has argued for a more prominent role of the federal government in the fight against organized crime as well as greater coordination between governmental institutions.

— ABC News, ABC News, 27 Sep. 2026

Definition of governmental

Noun

This imaging test uses a tracer that attaches to PSMA proteins, allowing doctors to identify where prostate cancer cells may be located throughout the body.

— Lauryn Higgins, Flow Space, 15 June 2026
Many health care workers served longer, harder deployments than mine — Sierra Leonean nurses, Guinean contact tracers, Liberian community health workers — and carried equal or greater burdens, yet Americans rarely heard their stories.

— Krutika Kuppalli, STAT, 20 May 2026

Definition of tracer

Noun

Less than a month later, plainclothesmen arrested Nassar at a local tire store, and Munford took him into custody.

— Jason Schmidt, Glamour, 30 Oct. 2018
Hustling bucks and ducking the Third Division boys, those earnest young plainclothesmen assigned to the vice squad who work out of the 17th Precinct on the East Side.

— Gail Sheehy, Daily Intelligencer, 9 Sep. 2017

Definition of plainclothesman

Noun

Aviation experts were surprised that the plane did not crash after a descent so extreme that most of the rudder was ripped off the tail.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 1 Oct. 2026
Beneath the waterline, a tail rudder modeled after a fish fin takes over.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of tail

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fed

federal

Federal

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Style

“Federal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/federal. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of federal

adjective

noun

Example Sentences

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