1
as in titular
being something in name or form only
he was the nominal head of state—everyone knew the country was actually run by one of his advisers
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in slight
so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention
when you pay $400 for an airline ticket, a ticketing fee of five dollars seems nominal
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in substantive
Related Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nominal
Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
Berg says that only a nominal number of appeals make it to the Superior Court, which is when a judge on the San Diego Superior Court reviews the details and documents of the citation and determines if it should be upheld.
—Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Sep. 2025
Faced with long odds and failing health, the Kilfoils settled their case for the nominal sum of $500 that Citizens was offering, according to their attorney.
—Mario Ariza, ProPublica, 15 Sep. 2025
Even though the nominal growth showed signs of slowing down, the low inflation level made the growth rate look stronger, economists said.
—Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nominal
Noun
Richard Kone, a goalscorer on the opening day of last season at the SToK Cae Ras in Wycombe Wanderers colours, may have been the nominal front man in a 4-2-3-1 set-up, but his link-up play and intelligent movement were matched by Harvey Vale, Koki Saito and Rumarn Burrell.
—Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
Berg says that only a nominal number of appeals make it to the Superior Court, which is when a judge on the San Diego Superior Court reviews the details and documents of the citation and determines if it should be upheld.
—Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Sep. 2025
Faced with long odds and failing health, the Kilfoils settled their case for the nominal sum of $500 that Citizens was offering, according to their attorney.
—Mario Ariza, ProPublica, 15 Sep. 2025
Even though the nominal growth showed signs of slowing down, the low inflation level made the growth rate look stronger, economists said.
—Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nominal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nominal
Adjective
-
Lillard played Shaggy, one of the amateur detectives who leads alongside the titular talking dog.—
Leia Mendoza,
Variety,
28 Sep. 2025
-
Does the titular showgirl have more coming before the final curtain call?—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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This marked a slight increase on figures from August, during which time Moscow claimed to have downed 2,786 Ukrainian drones at an average rate of nearly 90 per day.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
1 Oct. 2025
-
International undergraduate enrollment stayed the same, with a slight increase in international freshmen, Miner said.—
David Ferrara,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
First Acts: From the symbolic to the substantive, here is a look at what nine new governors elected last year have done in their first weeks in office.—
Maggie Astor,
New York Times,
30 Jan. 2023
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With his substantive, agreeably granular bass, David Grogan gave prophetic warnings real authority.—
Dallas News,
Dallas News,
23 Dec. 2022
Adjective
-
Finally, some vacuums use small leaf bags that can make the time savings negligible.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
26 Sep. 2025
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The caveat is that the amount of recycled cotton remains negligible Fourteen brands—including G-Star, Disel, Amazon, C&A and others—include 1 to 4 percent of recycled cotton in their operations.—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
23 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The barbecue rub seasoning adds a tiny bit of that familiar barbecue sweet-savory mixture.—
Marianne Williams,
Southern Living,
28 Sep. 2025
-
As a child in Cuba, Mike Fernandez watched as his teachers were replaced with government instructors, books vanished from classroom shelves and ultimately, Communist Party officials took over his dad's tiny sandwich stand.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA Today,
28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
In their recommendation, Warner and Kaine said Nachmanoff supervised a team that represented more than 2,500 clients accused of federal violations ranging from petty offenses to capital murder.—
Eduardo Cuevas,
USA Today,
26 Sep. 2025
-
Phantom Thread is a masterfully claustrophobic portrayal of a ’50s fashion house, as well as a nuanced depiction of a petty despot ruling over his small kingdom.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
25 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nominal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nominal. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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