as in linguistic
of or relating to words or language
a dictionary provides lexical information—it tells you what the word "cat" means, not all there is to know about cats
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Recent Examples of lexical
Russian speakers in the experiment proved faster than English speakers at distinguishing shades that corresponded to that lexical distinction.
—
Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
Practically, then, the translator reads with an eye to understanding the affordances offered by a text—to re-creating its potentialities, rather than merely offering a lexical equivalent.
—Max Norman, The New Yorker, 7 Dec. 2024
The lexical gap, where untranslatable words are found in one language but not others, can be easily filled by simply borrowing these words, OED executive editor Danica Salazar wrote in the update.
—Peter Guo, NBC news, 27 Mar. 2025
Russian speakers in the experiment proved faster than English speakers at distinguishing shades that corresponded to that lexical distinction.
—Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for lexical
Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
Practically, then, the translator reads with an eye to understanding the affordances offered by a text—to re-creating its potentialities, rather than merely offering a lexical equivalent.
—Max Norman, The New Yorker, 7 Dec. 2024
The lexical gap, where untranslatable words are found in one language but not others, can be easily filled by simply borrowing these words, OED executive editor Danica Salazar wrote in the update.
—Peter Guo, NBC news, 27 Mar. 2025
Russian speakers in the experiment proved faster than English speakers at distinguishing shades that corresponded to that lexical distinction.
—Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for lexical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lexical
Adjective
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The result is a persistent gap between models that can speak many languages and those that can function across linguistic contexts.—
Alessa Cross,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2025
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Our business, civic, educational, faith, media and political leaders have learned how to navigate these linguistic minefields.—
Jay Tcath,
Chicago Tribune,
10 June 2025
Adjective
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These were meetings of twenty-five or so women, each of whom paid the substantial sum of ten dollars to hear Fuller exercise her verbal brilliance in the course of a thirteen-week-long series, in semiprivate settings.—
James Marcus,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
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The incident began with a verbal argument, according to Pembroke Pines Police.—
Milena Malaver,
Miami Herald,
31 May 2025
Adjective
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Others lauded Fox for his performance but questioned why city staff and the outside search firm working on the hire haven’t been more communicative with council members, including about the pauses in the hiring process.—
Mary Ramsey,
Charlotte Observer,
10 June 2025
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To mitigate these risks, private partners should enter with eyes wide open and invest in building strong, communicative relationships with public sector counterparts.—
Seth Gellis,
Forbes.com,
5 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lexical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lexical. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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