They arrived in Southern Rhodesia, and there was a choice of an immigrants' camp, consisting of mud huts with a communal water supply, or a hotel; and they chose the hotel, being what are known as people of means.
Source: tatoeba (307260)
Communal
/kəˈmju.nəl/
Synonyms for "communal" (269 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (10)
Adjective(4 words)
Noun(2 words)
catalan públiccivic adjective
Strong matches (15)
Adjective(4 words)
Noun(3 words)
cohousing movementcollective agencycollective belonging
Related words (25)
Adjective(15 words)
collective conductcollective decisioncollective effortcollective ethoscollective gardencollective goalcollective home lifecollective householdcollective identity developmentcollective memory storycollective mindedcollective motivationcollective plancollective propertycollective trait
Noun(10 words)
collective consciousnesscollective distributioncollective dynamicscollective identitycollective living practicescollective memory studiescollective motivecollective nouncollective ownershipcollective process
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: agrarian communalist, associated, associational, catalan públic, cenobitic.
- Sentence evidence is available for communal, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from derived_reverse, moby, opengloss.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "communal".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "communal"
Keep "communal" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "communal" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "communal", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "communal" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
6 entriescommunity characteristicethical standardownership conceptpolicy typeproperty typesocial attribute
More specific
6 entriesCollocations
6 entriescommunal decision makingcommunal gardencommunal livingcommunal mealscommunal resourcescommunal spaces
Inflections
2 entriesmore communalmost communal
Derivations
3 entriessimilar
1 entriesTranslations
30 translations across 18 languages.
Bulgarian
2 entries- колективен adj (pertaining to a community)
- комунален adj (pertaining to a community)
Chinese Mandarin
3 entries- 社區的 /社区的 adj (pertaining to a community)
- 社群的 adj (pertaining to a community)
- 群體的 /群体的 adj (pertaining to a community)
Finnish
1 entries- yhteisöllinen adj (pertaining to a community)
French
1 entries- communautaire adj (pertaining to a community)
Galician
1 entries- comunitario adj (pertaining to a community)
German
2 entries- gemeinschaftlich adj (pertaining to a community)
- kommunal adj (pertaining to a community)
Hebrew
2 entries- קהילתי adj (pertaining to a community)
- קהילתית adj (pertaining to a community)
Irish
2 entries- pobail adj (pertaining to a community)
- pobalda adj (pertaining to a community)
Italian
1 entries- comunitario adj (pertaining to a community)
Latin
1 entries- commūnālis adj (pertaining to a community)
Portuguese
1 entries- comunitário adj (pertaining to a community)
Romanian
1 entries- comunitar adj (pertaining to a community)
Russian
2 entries- коммуна́льный adj (pertaining to a community)
- общи́нный adj (pertaining to a community)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- komunalni adj (pertaining to a community)
- općedruštveni adj (pertaining to a community)
- zȁjedničkī adj (pertaining to a community)
- за̏једничкӣ adj (pertaining to a community)
Slovak
1 entries- komunitný adj (pertaining to a community)
Spanish
1 entries- comunitario adj (pertaining to a community)
Swedish
1 entries- samhällelig adj (pertaining to a community)
Telugu
1 entries- సామాజిక adj (pertaining to a community)
Sample sentences
12 total sentences available.
There is a communal kitchen in the dormitory.
Source: tatoeba (2332742)
The apartment is cheap, but it only has communal bathrooms.
Source: tatoeba (2332743)
The communal aerial on our block of flats was struck by lightning.
Source: tatoeba (6174457)
Showing 4 of 12 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "communal"?
Closest matches include agrarian communalist, associated, associational, catalan públic, cenobitic.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "communal"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.