periodical 1 of 2

adjective

ˌpir-ē-ˈä-di-kəl How to pronounce periodical (audio)
Definition of periodicalnext
1
as in serial
appearing in parts or numbers that follow regularly a periodical town newsletter that is supported by local advertisers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in recurrent
occurring or appearing at intervals periodical announcements from airline personnel concerning the delay

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in frequent
appearing or occurring repeatedly from time to time periodical visits to the dentist will help keep your teeth healthy

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

periodical

2 of 2

noun

as in newspaper
a publication that appears at regular intervals subscribed to three new periodicals

Synonyms & Similar 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 periodical
Adjective
Like any outlet covering Congress, media working for TMZ must be credentialed by the Senate and House periodical press galleries. — Dominick Mastrangelo, The Hill, 15 Apr. 2026 Beginning in the 1890s, three successive Henry Wallaces — father, son, and grandson — held the editor’s pen at the influential periodical, Wallaces’ Farmer. — Andrew Klumpp, Des Moines Register, 22 Mar. 2026
Noun
Galaxy, Analog, and Amazing Stories, those three periodicals – and our bathroom was piled high. — Ben Mankiewicz, CBS News, 7 June 2026 Heuermann is an avid ready of books and periodicals, Toulon told ABC News. — Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 4 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for periodical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for periodical
  1. serial
  2. recurrent
  3. frequent
  4. newspaper
  5. serialized
  6. recurring
  7. periodic
  8. journal
Adjective
  • Sure, the local museum proudly displays the island’s history of cannibalism, witch burning, serial killers and often devastating weather system.
    — Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • There’s already a serial killer on the loose, and that feels more important.
    — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of serial
Adjective
  • Tech publication The Information first reported on OpenAI’s use of recurrent depth in Astra earlier this week.
    — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2026
  • But in the new Phase I trial, Chen’s team designed a form of CAR-T cell therapy that targets B7-H3 and studied its effects in 15 patients with recurrent glioblastoma that had not responded to available therapies.
    — Isabella Backman, Hartford Courant, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of recurrent
Adjective
  • Kevin LaForce, who ran the fund through much of its early growth, left the league in 2021 to join RedBird, which is a frequent 32 Equity collaborator.
    — Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 10 Sep. 2026
  • In Pennsylvania, flooding is a frequent and damaging natural hazard.
    — Kaleigh Yost, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of frequent
Noun
  • Local newspapers, foremost among them the New York Times, opened up their obituary pages to cover, in humanizing detail, the lives of ordinary people who died in the attacks.
    — Robert W. Snyder, New York Daily News, 6 Sep. 2026
  • The 12 defendants, including Khalifa, were sentenced to death by hanging and fined 500,000 Egyptian pounds ($9,800) by Cairo’s Criminal Court, the al-Ahram newspaper reported.
    — Eyad Kourdi, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of newspaper
Adjective
  • Noiser presents each story as a serialized listening experience in the podcast apps people already use every day.
    — Frank Racioppi, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Seen together, the trilogy charts both a personal coming-of-age and a generational coming-to-grips with aging that, even when compared against similar serialized documentary experiments like Michael Apted’s 7 Up installments, feels wholly unique.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of serialized
Adjective
  • How Recurring Revenue Is The Pump There’s only one kind of funding that reliably shows up in year seven—recurring, unrestricted revenue.
    — Sarah Evans, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Excluding non-recurring events, the magnitude of the average S & P 500 earnings surprise for the quarter is still about 11%.
    — Sarah Min, CNBC, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of recurring
Adjective
  • Skillfully insinuating actors on the order of Tom Hollander (Treasurer Robert Hales) and Stephen Dillane (Archbishop Sudbury) add some spice to the film’s periodic seminars in court scheming and skulking.
    — Michael Phillips, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026
  • The war in Ukraine has caused periodic oil disruptions in the Black and Caspian seas and to pipelines and terminals, but the biggest growing impact is Ukraine’s rising success targeting Russia’s refining network with long-distance drone attacks.
    — Jordan Blum, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of periodic
Noun
  • The results, published this year in the ‘Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise’ journal, ranked a suit blower running cold air first and a cold-air helmet blower second.
    — Patrick Iversen, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026
  • The study is published in the journal Applied Physics Letters.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of journal

Browse Nearby Words

periodic
periodical
periodically
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Periodical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/periodical. Accessed 12 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!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of hobnob

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

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

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

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

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
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
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All