Dialectical
adj ·5 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Of or pertaining to dialectic; (in philosophy) logically reasoned through the exchange of opposing ideas.
"Sure, maybe. We know — have long known — that romanticism and fatalism are dialectical lovers."
- 2 Synonym of dialectal (“of or pertaining to a dialect”). rare
"For I, and no doubt You, have long obſerved, that thoſe Dialectical ſubtleties, that the Schoolmen too often employ about Phyſiological Myſteries, are vvont much more to declare the vvit of him that uſes them, then increaſe the knovvledge or remove the doubts of ſober lovers of truth."
- 1 of or relating to or employing dialectic wordnet
Example
More examples"I must not stay to notice the strange fortunes of all the many other quasi-human worlds. I will mention only that in some, though civilization was destroyed in a succession of savage wars, the germ of recovery precariously survived. In one, the agonizing balance of the old and the new seemed to prolong itself indefinitely. In another, where science had advanced too far for the safety of an immature species, man accidentally blew up his planet and his race. In several, the dialectical process of history was broken short by invasion and conquest on the part of inhabitants of another planet. These and other disaster, to be described in due course, decimated the galactic population of worlds."
Etymology
From Latin dialecticus + -al. By surface analysis, dialectic + -al or dialect + -ical.
Related phrases
More for "dialectical"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.