1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

naval

adjective

Definition of navalnext
as in GI
of or relating to a country's navy a naval base

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 naval On July 30, Riyadh announced a 14-country naval defense coalition for the Red Sea that included Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan and Djibouti. — April Longley Alley, Foreign Affairs, 11 Sep. 2026 Tehran has no intention of backing down in the face of an American naval blockade and attacks on its oil tankers, said the official, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters. — Arkansas Online, 10 Sep. 2026 Against the backdrop of the collapsing US-Iran ceasefire, the Houthis retaliated by declaring a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia and threatening ships carrying Saudi exports through Bab al-Mandab. — Nic Robertson, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2026 Hoping to be a naval aviator, Riggle joined the Marines at age 19 while in Lawrence. — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 9 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for naval
Recent Examples of Synonyms for naval
  1. military
  2. martial
  3. service
  4. mercenary
Adjective
  • The War Powers Act, created in the aftermath of the Vietnam conflict, sought to put a more specific time limit on the president's power, requiring congressional approval for sustained military actions after 60 or 90 days.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Refugee groups said military barracks aren’t the right place to house asylum seekers, but cautioned that migrants should not be made scapegoats.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of military
Adjective
  • The advertising operation includes demographic and lifestyle information, such as education, martial status, and household income and makeup, Florida claims.
    — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2026
  • The families of Texas chiropractor John Giusti, 46, and martial artist Brent Rosenkranz, 42, identified them as the two people whose bodies were recovered, according to Hannah Barricks, a liaison for the families.
    — Greg Norman-Diamond, FOXNews.com, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of martial
Adjective
  • Another issue, and perhaps the bigger one, is that the US currently doesn’t operate a uniform multi-service verification standard for this kind of thing.
    — Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Swinney’s team gained eight first downs the entire night and allowed 309 rushing yards to a non-service academy.
    — Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of service
Adjective
  • While his associate scans microfiche, Reacher gives the first of many, many, many unnamed mercenary characters the ol’ Giles Corey special.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Its leader, Sergei Mironov, 73, once gained headlines by posing with a symbol of brutality — a sledgehammer given to him by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the late Wagner mercenary leader shortly before his failed 2023 mutiny.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of mercenary

Browse Nearby Words

nautical
naval
navel
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Naval.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/naval. Accessed 23 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All