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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
After last week’s BAFTAs mishegoss, the BBC has finally released the results of its internal review attempting to explain why their production team let a racial slur make it into the telecast despite the ceremony airing on a two-hour delay.
—
Nate Jones, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2026
That’s right, this bill will be a bonanza for bottom-feeding trial attorneys ready to dive onto any action that even acknowledges a community’s cultural heritage, celebrates LGBTQ Floridians or celebrates the erasure of racial boundaries.
—Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Mar. 2026
With a passion for racial justice, economic fairness, immigrant rights and equality for the LGBTQ community, Michael Caga-anan Aguhar devoted his time to helping community organizations in the Chicago area.
—Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2026
Progressives may have lost the battle for racial affirmative action, but ironically, Supreme Court decisions should allow colleges to give advantage to groups defined by their income, geography, or heritage.
—David Cole, The New York Review of Books, 5 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for racial
Nate Jones, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2026
That’s right, this bill will be a bonanza for bottom-feeding trial attorneys ready to dive onto any action that even acknowledges a community’s cultural heritage, celebrates LGBTQ Floridians or celebrates the erasure of racial boundaries.
—Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Mar. 2026
With a passion for racial justice, economic fairness, immigrant rights and equality for the LGBTQ community, Michael Caga-anan Aguhar devoted his time to helping community organizations in the Chicago area.
—Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2026
Progressives may have lost the battle for racial affirmative action, but ironically, Supreme Court decisions should allow colleges to give advantage to groups defined by their income, geography, or heritage.
—David Cole, The New York Review of Books, 5 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for racial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for racial
Adjective
-
Roozbeh Farahanipour, a former Iranian dissident who now lives in Los Angeles, worries that a destabilized Iran, with its complex cultural heritage and patchwork of ethnic and religious groups, could devolve into a far worse mess than post-invasion Iraq.—
Jack Dolan,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Mar. 2026
-
The logic and its appeal The Kurds – roughly 30 million to 40 million people across Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran – are the world’s largest stateless ethnic group.—
John Calabrese,
The Conversation,
7 Mar. 2026
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
Cite this Entry
“Racial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/racial. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
