doctrinal

adjective

doc·​trin·​al ˈdäk-trə-nᵊl How to pronounce doctrinal (audio)
especially British
däk-ˈtrī- How to pronounce doctrinal (audio)
: of, relating to, or preoccupied with doctrine
doctrinally adverb

Examples of doctrinal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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In the seventeenth century, the Thirty Years’ War was fueled by doctrinal differences no less than by the struggle for European primacy. Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024 The Court has already laid the doctrinal framework for a decision overturning the 2024 election So what would a Supreme Court decision overthrowing the 2024 election look like? Ian Millhiser, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018 The pope, however, has not called for the practice to be criminalized and a 2023 Vatican doctrinal ruling pointed out that children born through surrogacy can be baptized. Antonia Mortensen, CNN, 19 Oct. 2024 Secret armaments or doctrinal shifts without public messaging will only make adversaries more paranoid and a full-on arms race all but inevitable, raising the risk of miscalculation by someone, somewhere, somehow. Andreas Kluth, The Mercury News, 29 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for doctrinal 

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of doctrinal was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near doctrinal

Cite this Entry

“Doctrinal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doctrinal. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.

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