racial

IPA/ˈreɪʃl/
KK[rˈeʃəl]IPA/ˈreɪʃl/

racial — adjective

  • racialpositive
  • more racialcomparative
  • most racialsuperlative

1. Connected with situations where a person gets worse treatment or suffers harm si

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

Connected with situations where a person gets worse treatment or suffers harm simply because others see them as belonging to a particular race — for example, losing a job opportunity, being refused a home to rent, or receiving poorer medical care.

Example

Andrés's report showed clear racial bias in the company's hiring process.

collocation: racial bias

The new law makes racial discrimination in housing a serious crime.

collocation: racial discrimination

Common collocations
  • racial bias
  • racial discrimination
  • racial abuse
  • racial profiling
  • racial hatred
  • racial inequality
  • racial prejudice
  • racial segregation
  • racial violence
Synonyms
  • discriminatory

    more formal and legal; focuses on unequal treatment rather than the basis (race, gender, age)

  • racist

    stronger and more accusatory; describes beliefs in racial superiority, not just unfair treatment

  • prejudiced

    more personal; describes an individual's biased attitudes rather than systemic practices

Antonyms
  • colour-blind

    describes treating people without regard to race at all

Grammar Patterns

racial + noun (discrimination, bias, abuse)

Usage Note

Frequently paired with nouns describing unfair treatment, such as 'discrimination', 'bias', 'abuse', 'profiling', 'hatred', and 'inequality'. Unlike the general sense (sense 3), this sense carries a strong negative judgement about the unfairness of the treatment.

Common Mistakes

The company has a racial problem' (too vague).
The company has a problem with racial discrimination.
'racial' alone is too broad; pair it with a specific noun like discrimination, bias, or profiling.

2. Describing situations, relationships, or events that involve people from differe

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

Describing situations, relationships, or events that involve people from different racial groups — such as friendships, marriages, community interactions, or social conflicts that cross racial boundaries.

Example

The school's programme helped reduce racial tensions among students from different backgrounds.

collocation: racial tensions

Rohan and Dahlia are friends who demonstrate racial harmony in their class.

collocation: racial harmony

Common collocations
  • racial tensions
  • racial harmony
  • racial diversity
  • racial integration
  • racial understanding
  • racial relations
  • racial mixing
Synonyms
  • interracial

    more specific; only describes things happening between people of different races

  • cross-cultural

    broader; refers to interactions between different cultures, which may overlap with race

  • multiethnic

    focuses on ethnic groups rather than racial categories

Antonyms
  • intraracial

    within a single racial group; rare in everyday usage

Grammar Patterns

racial + noun (harmony, tensions, diversity)

Usage Note

Common in phrases describing social relations, including 'racial harmony', 'racial tensions', 'racial diversity', and 'racial integration'. In this sense, the focus is on the interaction or relationship between racial groups, not on unfair treatment.

Common Mistakes

They are a racial couple' (sounds like describing a couple's race).
They are in an interracial relationship.
Use 'interracial' to describe people from different races together; 'racial' alone does not convey this meaning.

3. Connected with the idea of race or with a person's perceived racial background —

3.adjectiveB1
Definition

Connected with the idea of race or with a person's perceived racial background — used when talking about identity, categories, demographics, or general topics related to race, without necessarily implying unfair treatment or interracial contact.

Example

The census form asks people to indicate their racial background on the questionnaire.

collocation: racial background

Ingrid wrote an essay about racial identity in modern British society.

Common collocations
  • racial background
  • racial identity
  • racial group
  • racial category
  • racial makeup
  • racial characteristics
  • racial lines
Synonyms
  • ethnic

    overlapping but more precise; refers to shared cultural traits, language, or nationality rather than physical characteristics

  • ancestral

    focuses on family lineage and heritage rather than broad racial categories

Grammar Patterns

racial + noun (background, identity, group)

Usage Note

The most general and neutral sense of 'racial'. Use it when simply stating a connection to race without focusing on fairness (sense 1) or interracial interaction (sense 2). Common with formal or statistical contexts like census data, academic research, and official forms.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

While all four words describe unfair treatment based on group identity, they differ in strength and scope. 'Racial' is the broadest — it describes anything related to race, though it takes on a negative tone when paired with words like 'discrimination'. 'Racist' is stronger and more accusatory; it describes beliefs or actions that explicitly promote racial superiority or hostility toward other groups. 'Discriminatory' is the most formal and legal — it focuses on unequal treatment that may be based on race but also on gender, age, or religion, and is often used in official policies and court cases. 'Prejudiced' is more personal, describing an individual's biased attitudes rather than systemic or institutional practices. For example, a company might have a 'racial bias' that is unintentional, enforce a 'discriminatory policy' that is illegal, hold a 'racist belief' that is actively harmful, or employ a 'prejudiced manager' who treats team members unfairly.

racial ↗racist ↗discriminatory ↗prejudiced ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • on racial grounds
  • racial and ethnic
  • on the basis of race

Etymology

ItalianFrenchEnglish

The word 'racial' comes from 'race', which entered English from French in the 1500s meaning 'group of people with common ancestry'. The French 'race' may have come from Italian 'razza', meaning 'kind' or 'lineage'. The adjective 'racial' was formed in the early 1800s by adding the suffix '-ial' (a variant of '-al') to the noun 'race', creating a term meaning 'relating to race'. The word became widely used in the 19th and 20th centuries as societies began classifying people into racial groups and discussing racism and civil rights.