Meanings
proper noun
- USrail transportThe service mark of Amtrak's high-speed rail service in the Northeast Corridor of the United States.
- USbroadlyThe Northeastern United States, generally north and east of Washington, D.C.
First, the party’s non-Trumpist faction — embodied by senators like Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski, various purple- and blue-state governors and most of the remaining Acela corridor conservatives, from lawyers and judges to lobbyists and staffers — […].
2021 January 12, Ross Douthat, “How the Republican Party Could Break”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Origin
A shortening of Acela Express, from a marketing coinage based on acceleration and excellence.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
Acela. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Acela
MLA
“Acela.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Acela. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Acela,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Acela.
Source: Acela on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.