canonical
adjective
ca·non·i·cal
kə-ˈnä-ni-kəl 
1
: of, relating to, or forming a canon
canonical scriptures
2
: conforming to a general rule or acceptable procedure : orthodox
His proposals were generally accepted as canonical.
3
: of or relating to a clergyman who is a canon
4
: reduced to the canonical form
a canonical matrix
Examples of canonical in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Archbishop Shawn McKnight has launched a preliminary canonical investigation into the issue as well, the archdiocese said.
—
Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2025
For a long stretch of its opening act, All the President’s Men—the canonical paranoid thriller from 1976—isn’t just about the brewing Watergate scandal, or about the battle between a cagey political machine and an enterprising newspaper.
—K. Austin Collins, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025
The canonical work of Edward Curtis established the tragic view and elegiac rhetoric of Native people as noble savages unassimilable to Progress and hence destined for cultural, if not biological, extinction.
—Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
Only his near contemporary, the American modernist poet Wallace Stevens (who survived into old age), who weirdly enough also was a lawyer for an insurance company, rivals Kafka in terms of the inverse proportion of literary originality and canonical significance to dullness of life story.
—Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for canonical
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.
Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2025
For a long stretch of its opening act, All the President’s Men—the canonical paranoid thriller from 1976—isn’t just about the brewing Watergate scandal, or about the battle between a cagey political machine and an enterprising newspaper.
—K. Austin Collins, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025
The canonical work of Edward Curtis established the tragic view and elegiac rhetoric of Native people as noble savages unassimilable to Progress and hence destined for cultural, if not biological, extinction.
—Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
Only his near contemporary, the American modernist poet Wallace Stevens (who survived into old age), who weirdly enough also was a lawyer for an insurance company, rivals Kafka in terms of the inverse proportion of literary originality and canonical significance to dullness of life story.
—Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for canonical
Cite this Entry
“Canonical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canonical. Accessed 23 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
canonical
adjective
ca·non·i·cal
kə-ˈnän-i-kəl
1
: relating to or allowed by church law
2
: following a general rule or accepted procedure
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share