Procedural
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A type of literature, film, or television program involving a sequence of technical detail.
"It is only fitting that the investigation of place-based police procedurals begins in America, where the police procedural was invented and turned into a literary art form."
- 2 Ellipsis of police procedural. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, specifically
"The Wire, however, did not kill the procedural. The procedural simply borrowed The Wire’s aesthetic. The detectives may trudge sombrely from one improbable homicide scene to another, week in, week out, as the blue lights circle bleakly, but we, the viewers, sink gleefully into our sofas ready to drink it in like cocoa."
- 1 Related to procedure.
"The judge dismissed the case on procedural grounds: it wasn't the facts or the law, but just that they hadn't filed the correct forms."
- 2 Generated by means of a procedure, rather than being designed.
"a procedural texture"
- 1 relating to court practice and procedure as opposed to the principles of law wordnet
- 2 of or relating to procedure wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person."
Etymology
From procedure + -al.
Related phrases
More for "procedural"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.