intentional

in·tent·ion·al
I1N1T1E1N1T1I1O1N1A1L1
UK/ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩(ə)l/UK[ɪnˈtʰɛnʃənɫ̩]Canada, US/ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃ(ə)nəl/Australia/ɪnˈtenʃənəl/

adjective

Intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily.

Less commonScrabble 11

Meanings

adjectiveintentional (comparative more intentional, superlative most intentional)

comparative more intentional · superlative most intentional

  1. Intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily.

    Synonyms: deliberate

  2. Reflecting intention; marking an expenditure of will in the shape of a matter.

    It should, however, be borne in mind that even in the cohortative proper, the -ah does not add to the simple imperfect the ‘intentional’ signification expressed by that mood: the signification is already there, and the new termination merely renders it more prominent.

    1892, Samuel Rolles Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, Third, Revised And Improved edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 79
    1 more example

    When Kafka’s novels are analyzed with the autistic frame of reference in mind the behavior of his protagonists make more sense and will reveal that Kafka’s protagonists focus on external behavioral cues which are guided by Kafka’s education and mindset of a lawyer. As such Kafka’s protagonists are a reflection of the thinking and behavior of Kafka the author. Critics and literary scholars misinterpret Kafka’s work by focusing on aspects such as the psychological and mental state of the characters, which are of limited actual concern for the externally intentional focus of the writer Kafka.

    2017 May 16, Jerry Stuger, “Kafka and Autism. The Undisclosed Logic Behind Kafka’s Work”, in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, volume 47, →DOI, pages 2336–2347
  3. lawDone with intent.
  4. human sciencesObject to intentionality, only appearing due to wilful perception.
  5. human sciencesDirected toward or about a foci of attentional consciousness; possessing the property of being a consciousness of something.

    It is of the very nature of consciousness to be intentional and a consciousness that would cease to be consciousness of something would for that very reason cease to exist.

    1948, Jean-Paul Sartre, The Psychology of Imagination, page 265
nounintentional (plural intentionals)

plural intentionals

  1. archaichuman sciencesSomething that has no essential underlying structure but apparition only as defined by perception; object only because consciousness is directed to it.
  2. grammarThe cohortative mood as found in Hebrew (terminology borrowed from Julius Friedrich Böttcher † 1863 and now outmoded), and constructions of similar purpose in even more exotic languages.
    1 more example

    Tariana distinguishes interrogative and imperative moods. Interrogative mood is marked through a separate set of evidentials fused with tense (see §14.2). Imperatives are discussed in §16.1. Modalities include: frustrative (§16.2), intentional (§16.3), apprehensive (§16.4), uncertainty (§16.5), conditional (§16.6), purposive (§16.7) and counter-expectation (§16.8). […] The intentional is marked with the clitic -kasu. It can occur with any group of verbs, marking imminent action, as in 16.60 and intention, as in 16.61.

    2003, Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, “16 - Mood and modality”, in A Grammar of Tariana, from Northwest Amazonia, Cambridge University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 371, 383

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveIntended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivecharacterized by conscious design or purpose

adjectivedone or made or performed with purpose and intent

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Italic*en
  3. Proto-Italic*en-
  4. Latinin-
  5. Latintendō
  6. Latinintendō
  7. Medieval Latinintentiō
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  10. Medieval Latinintentiōnālis
  11. Englishintentional

Borrowed from Medieval Latin intentiōnālis, from intentiō + -ālis. By surface analysis, intention + -al.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic عَمْدِيّ, إرَادِيّ
  • عَمْدِيّ (ʕamdiyy)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • إرَادِيّ (ʔirādiyy)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • عَمْدِيّ (ʕamdiyy)done with intent
  • إرَادِيّ (ʔirādiyy)done with intent
Bulgarian преднаме́рен, уми́шлен
  • преднаме́рен (prednaméren)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • уми́шлен (umíšlen)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • умишлен (umišlen)done with intent
Catalan intencionat, intencionat
  • intencionatintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • intencionatdone with intent
Chinese Mandarin 故意, 蓄意
  • 故意 (gùyì)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • 蓄意 (xùyì)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • 有意 (yǒuyì)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • 刻意 (kèyì)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • 存心 (cúnxīn)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
Czech záměrný, úmyslný
  • záměrnýintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • úmyslnýintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
Dutch opzettelijk, met voorbedachte rade
  • opzettelijkintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • met voorbedachte radedone with intent
Esperanto intenca
  • intencaintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
Finnish tahallinen, tarkoituksellinen
  • tahallinenintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • tarkoituksellinenintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • aikomuksellinenintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
French volontaire, intentionnel
  • volontaireintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • intentionnelintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
German absichtlich, vorsätzlich
  • absichtlichintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • vorsätzlichintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • vorsätzlichdone with intent
Hebrew בְּכַוָּנָה, מכוון
  • בְּכַוָּנָה (b'khavaná)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • מכוון (mekhuvan)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
Hungarian szándékos, szándékos
  • szándékosintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • szándékosdone with intent
Icelandic viljandi
  • viljandiintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
Japanese 故意の, 意図的な
  • 故意の (koi no)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • 意図的な (itoteki na)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
Korean 고의적인
  • 고의적인 (gouijeogin)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
Latin meditātus, ultrōneus
  • meditātusintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • ultrōneusintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
Māori āta, mārie
  • ātaintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • mārieintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • mārireintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
Persian عمدی, عمدی
  • عمدی ('amdi)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • عمدی ('amdi)done with intent
Polish zamierzony, umyślny
  • zamierzonyintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • umyślnyintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • celowyintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • intencjonalnyintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
Portuguese intencional, intencional
  • intencionalintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • intencionaldone with intent
Romanian intenționat
  • intenționatintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
Russian преднаме́ренный, умы́шленный
  • преднаме́ренный (prednamérennyj)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • умы́шленный (umýšlennyj)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • наме́ренный (namérennyj)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • преднаме́ренный (prednamérennyj)done with intent
Slovak zámerný, úmyselný
  • zámernýintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • úmyselnýintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
Spanish intencional
  • intencionalintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
Swedish avsiktlig, uppsåtlig
  • avsiktligintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • uppsåtligintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • med uppsåtdone with intent
Tagalog sadya, intensiyonal
  • sadyaintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • intensiyonalintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
Turkish kasıtlı, istemli
  • kasıtlıintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • istemliintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • kastiintended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • kasıtlıdone with intent
  • istemlidone with intent
  • kastidone with intent
Ukrainian навми́сний, уми́сний
  • навми́сний (navmýsnyj)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily
  • уми́сний (umýsnyj)intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with intentional

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

intentional. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intentional

MLA

“intentional.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intentional. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “intentional,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intentional.

Source: intentional on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.