What does "clinical" mean?

A medical student's session spent in a real-world nursing environment.

What is a synonym for "clinical"?

Common synonyms include: accurate, alexithymic, allopathic, apathistical, candid, chiropodic.

//ˈklɪnɪkəl// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Noun

Adjective

1
Dealing with the practical management of patients, in practice at the point of care; as contrasted with other health care venues (see clinical medicine for more explanation).
"“We are social beings,” Jaime Blandino, a clinical psychologist in Decatur, Georgia, told CNN. “My most extroverted clients are having the hardest time.”"
2
Of or pertaining to a clinic, such as a medical clinic or law clinic.
"Medicine is now more often practiced in a clinical setting than in the home."
3
Cool and emotionless, in a professional way, as contrasted with an impetuous or unprofessional way.
4
Objective; analytical.
"We took a clinical approach to resolving conflicts."
5
Excellent and precise.
"Fly-half Jonny Wilkinson put his below-par performance against Argentina behind him with a fine first-half showing, slotting four kicks from six and controlling his back-line with aplomb, while England's three-quarters were brimming with life and clinical with their execution."

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6
Of or relating to a bed, especially a deathbed. obsolete
"a clinical convert: one who turns to religion on their death-bed"

Adjective

1
scientifically detached; unemotional wordnet
2
relating to a clinic or conducted in or as if in a clinic and depending on direct observation of patients wordnet

"The clinical records in most hospitals are kept in alphabetical order."

From clinic + -al.

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