transitional

adjective

tran·​si·​tion·​al tran(t)-ˈsi-sh(ə-)nəl 

tran(t)-ˈsi-zh(ə-)nəl,

tran-ˈzi-sh(ə-)nəl 

: marked by transition : involving, providing, or consisting of a passage, movement, or change from one state, condition, subject, place, etc., to another

a transitional passage in music

They are often transitional areas between water environments and dry land, and are populated by many trees and plants that can put up with the occasional flood …

—JoAnn Shroyer

The social worlds of neighborhood and village are now less important as transitional zones between home and nonhome settings.

—Theano S. Terkenli

… turning into a civilian coup, that … established a transitional government and prepared the way for multi-party elections.

—Larry Diamond

… an animal about the size of a turkey that they contend was a flightless bird, a transitional figure between some carnivorous dinosaurs and modern birds.

—John Noble Wilford

transitionally adverb

The problem then is to structure a sequence of reforms that is politically consistent with the social mores of the Soviet Union, economically coherent, and transitionally sound …

—Edgar L. Feige

Examples of transitional in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Around 10 percent of the population may even regularly succumb to the sensation, also called hypnagogic jerks in reference to the hypnagogic transitional stage of falling asleep. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 13 Nov. 2024

Related Articles Facing Homelessness in Antioch: From spaghetti dinners to transitional housing A homeless California veteran was denied a housing voucher for being too sick. —Blake Nelson, The Mercury News, 11 Nov. 2024

As Argentina navigates this transitional period, the implications of these changes for its foreign relations remain to be seen. —Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024

Many companies are embracing AI to help them automate repetitive tasks, and many are already on transitional journeys to this new world, freeing up people to focus on more strategic tasks. —Uli Erxleben, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1819, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

transitional

adjective

tran·​si·​tion·​al

-ˈish-nəl, -ˈizh-ən-ᵊl

1

: of, relating to, or characterized by transition

2

: of, relating to, or being epithelium (as in the urinary bladder) that consists of several layers of soft cuboidal cells which become flattened when stretched (as when the bladder is distended)