Ceremonial

//ˌsɛɹɪˈməʊnɪ.əl// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A ceremony, or series of ceremonies, prescribed by ritual. countable, uncountable

    "Curt’sies, and the usual Ceremonials between Women who are Strangers to each other being past, Sophia said, ‘I have not the Pleasure to know you, Madam.’"

  2. 2
    a formal event performed on a special occasion wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Of, relating to, consisting of, or used in a ceremony.

    "What mockery will it be / To want the bridegroom when the priest attends / To speak the ceremonial rites of marriage!"

  2. 2
    Used only for the purpose of ceremony; symbolic.
  3. 3
    Synonym of ceremonious (“of a person: fond of ceremony or ritual, or of observing strict etiquette or formality; punctilious”). obsolete

    "Oh monstrous, superstitious puritan, / Of refin’d manners, yet ceremoniall man, […]"

Adjective
  1. 1
    marked by pomp or ceremony or formality wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
ceremonyformalceremoniousaugustbaccalaureate servicebaptismal

Antonyms

All antonyms
casual

Example

More examples

"Many a gentleman of the old school has been provoked to remark regretfully upon the under-bred manners and bearing of even the better classes in the modern industrial communities; and the decay of the ceremonial code—or as it is otherwise called, the vulgarisation of life—among the industrial classes proper has become one of the chief enormities of latter-day civilisation in the eyes of all persons of delicate sensibilities."

Etymology

From Middle English cerymonial, from Latin caerimōniālis. Morphologically ceremony + -al or -ial.

Related phrases

ceremonial countyceremonial first pitchceremonial marriage

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.