as in ethnic
of, relating to, or reflecting the traits exhibited by a group of people with a common ancestry and culture a survey that included an optional question regarding racial identity, age, and other personal information

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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 racial Stories of similar scenes are sweeping Puerto Rico—raids without court orders, marked by deception and racial profiling, often regardless of legal status. Israel Melendez Ayala, Time, 16 Sep. 2025 Papering over the failure of the public education system by endorsing de facto racial discrimination in admissions decisions is clearly the wrong way ahead. The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 16 Sep. 2025 So, for example, the Republicans who have the highest racial resentment against Black Americans are the most likely to be morally disengaged from Democrats. Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025 The death of Kirk – who often disparaged racial and religious minorities and the LGBTQ+ community – hasn’t been mourned by everyone. Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for racial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for racial
Adjective
  • Rohingya are not among the 135 ethnic groups officially recognized by Myanmar and are denied full citizenship.
    Esha Mitra, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2025
  • Participants were mostly White; results may not apply equally across all racial and ethnic groups.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Genocide is defined as attempting to partly or wholly destroy a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
    Ellie Cook Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
  • The United Nations broadly defines genocide as seriously harming or killing members of a group with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
    Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 12 Apr. 2022

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Cite this Entry

“Racial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/racial. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.

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