topical
adjective
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Like a topical medicine, a topical reference or story applies to something specific, focusing on a topic that's currently in the news. TV comedians often use topical humor, making jokes about a currently popular movie or the latest political scandal—if possible, one that just broke that same day. Topical humor has a short lifespan, though, because the news keeps changing and the new hot topics just keep coming. The medical meaning of topical stays closer to the meaning of the root, since it describes something that's put right on the place that seems to need it.
Examples of topical in a Sentence
Quartz Bot, Quartz, 8 Nov. 2024
Home remedies and topical corticosteroids can manage most symptoms.
—Mark Gurarie, Verywell Health, 30 Oct. 2024
Kojic acid formulations are sometimes given as a topical adjuvant to hydroquinone treatment, the most common treatment for melasma.
—Merve Ceylan, Health, 4 Nov. 2024
As some have noted, the topical focus does strike in me a weird moralizing twang — What’s up with that?
—Lily Burana, Rolling Stone, 4 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for topical 
Dictionary Entries Near topical
Cite this Entry
“Topical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/topical. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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topical
adjective
Medical Definition
topical
adjective
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