Meanings
comparative more institutional · superlative most institutional
- Of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or organized along the lines of an institution.
Swindon's Model Lodging House was originally designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The 1847-1849 recession led to delays and plan revisions, including smaller windows in the finished structure, resulting in a more 'institutional' appearance.
2022 September 7, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Railway towns and a social revolution”, in RAIL, number 965, page 55, photo caption1 more example
The main concerns for young Indonesians are quality of life, corruption, institutional integrity and the environment, including air pollution, said Abigail Limuria, co-founder of Bijak Memilih, an independent, youth-led movement providing information on political parties, issues and candidates to voters.
2024 February 11, Rachel Wilson and Rosa de Acosta, “How Indonesia’s future is in the hands of young voters, in 5 charts”, in CNN - Instituted by authority.
institutional ruling
- Pertaining to the policies and practices of an institution, organization or government.
There must be an unequivocal acceptance of the problem of institutional racism and its nature before it can be addressed
1999, William MacPherson, The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, Cm 4262-I, para 6.48
plural institutionals
- A client that is an organization rather than an individual.
Institutionals, especially also foreign institutionals have increased their holdings in the Belgian companies, with some effect on governance techniques.
2015, Klaus J. Hopt, Eddy Wymeersch, Comparative Corporate Governance: Essays and Materials, page 693 more examples
Few public relations people have learned to communicate effectively with the funds, meet their needs, and maintain a balance between institutionals and individual round lot holders.
1968, The Public Relations Journal - Volume 24, page 3At a later stage one could imagine some institutionals occasionally or even systematically engaging in law suits against companies or their directors to influence the company's conduct.
1999, E. Wymeersch, Shareholder Voting Rights and Practices in Europe and the United States, page 51Even during the distribution of the public capital assets "free of charge", the case of Czech Republic showed, that the restructuring of property, esp. in the concentrated institutional form of "institutionals", leads to a conservation of some essential dysfunctions of the past system.
2012, Peter Koslowski, Business Ethics in East Central Europe, page 13 - governmentA Chilean senator who is appointed by the president for a term of eight years.
While the "institutionals" certainly have not voted as a bloc with the Right in all situations, in general terms they have been a reliable ally for this sector.
2010, Peter M. Siavelis, President and Congress in Postauthoritarian Chile, page 402 more examples
The institutionals include four former senior military commanders, one from each of the four branches of the armed forces, selected by the National security Council (Cosena); two former Supreme Court judges and one former comptroller-general, selected by the Supreme Court; and one former interior minister and a former university rector, selected by the president.
2000, Country Forecast: Chile, page 6The time series is very short for the post-1998 transition in the Senate, but if the few votes are indicative, they show that at least a few of the institutionals are much more willing to join legislative majorities than before.
2003, Scott Morgenstern, Patterns of Legislative Politics, page 166 - A community where the majority of inhabitants work at an institution (as opposed to industry or trade), or one such inhabitant.
In any time period, Marketing Centers and Institutionals will have a higher per capita index of airline passengers than either Industrial or Balanced communities.
1948, United States. Civil Aeronautics Administration, Airport Planning: Economic character of communities, page 132 more examples
The "marketing" centers consisted of the metropolitan districts that were above average in wholesale sales but low in industrial employment. The "institutionals" were low in both trade and industrial employment.
1953, Chester Rapkin, Housing Market Analysis: A Study of Theory and Methods, page 61It was found that marketing centers and institutionals had superior purchasing power to industrial and balanced centers, and in turn the number of airline passengers generated and the number of registered general aviation aircraft were also greater for the marketing and institutional classifications .
1962, Robert Horonjeff, The Planning and Design of Airports, page 121 - An institutionalized person.
We have no groups that do not include ex-institutionals.
1981, Bella Jacobs, Working with the At-risk Older Person: A Resource Manual, page 422 more examples
And I hope you can work it out where 'institutionals' can have rights too.
1977, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons, page 100The first group, the so-called "institutionals," represents the poorest and most desperate women living in or near the urban centers. These women, often unmarried and frequently with no family support or employment, turned in their pregnant despair to public or private charity institutions.
2016, Judith Walzer Leavitt, Brought to Bed: Childbearing in America, 1750-1950, page 74 - human sciencesA person whose sense of self is based on institutionalized values and standards, as opposed to their tastes and impulses.
For the institutionals, hypocrisy consists of failing to live up to one's standards.
1999, Roy F. Baumeister, The Self in Social Psychology2 more examples
If vocational counseling to help the individual find his peculiar niche has elements of the impulse conception of self, the idea that a person can make of himself what he will, that one chooses a task and then works at it, is the view of institutionals.
1981, Gregory Prentice Stone, Harvey A. Farberman, Social Psychology Through Symbolic Interaction, page 206For institutionals the self is revealed through adherence to a high standard, especially in spite of adverse conditions.
1988, Michael R. Wood, Louis A. Zurcher Jr., The Development of a Postmodern Self, page 22
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveorganized as or forming an institution
adjectivecharacteristic or suggestive of an institution especially in being uniform or dull or unimaginative
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishinstitution
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Englishinstitutional
From institution + -al.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian институционален, казионен
- институционален (institucionalen)of pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
- казионен (kazionen)instituted by authority
Catalan institucional
- institucionalof pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
Danish institutionel
- institutionelof pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
Dutch institutioneel
- institutioneelof pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
Finnish institutionaalinen
- institutionaalinenof pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
French institutionnel
- institutionnelof pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
German institutionell
- institutionellof pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
Hebrew מוֹסָדִי
- מוֹסָדִי (mosadí)of pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
Hindi संस्थागत, संस्थागत
- संस्थागत (sansthāgat)of pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
- संस्थागत (sansthāgat)instituted by authority
Hungarian intézményi
- intézményiof pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
Italian istituzionale
- istituzionaleof pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
Norwegian Bokmål institusjonell
- institusjonellof pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
Polish instytucjonalny, instytucjonalny
- instytucjonalnyof pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
- instytucjonalnyinstituted by authority
Portuguese institucional
- institucionalof pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
Romanian instituțional
- instituționalof pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
Russian институциона́льный
- институциона́льный (institucionálʹnyj)of pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
Spanish institucional
- institucionalof pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
Swedish institutionell
- institutionellof pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
Ukrainian інституці́йний
- інституці́йний (instytucíjnyj)of pertaining to or characteristic of an institution
Cite this entry
institutional. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/institutional
“institutional.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/institutional. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “institutional,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/institutional.
Source: institutional on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.