practical

Syllables: prac·ti·calUK/ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəl/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈpɹak.tɪ.kəl/

practical adjective: relating to, or based on, practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis.

Adjective

practical (comparative more practical, superlative most practical)

Relating to, or based on, practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis.
- Jack didn't get an engineering degree, but has practical knowledge of metalworking.
- Modern engineering applies science to practical problems.
Being likely to be effective and applicable to a real situation; able to be put to use.
- Jack's knowledge has the practical benefit of giving us useful prototype parts.
- Recruits will be taught in-depth electrical and mechanical engineering as well as gaining practical experience in rail maintenance.2021 February 24, “Rail industry marks National Apprenticeship Week”, in RAIL, number 925, page 17
Of a person, having skills or knowledge that are practical.
- All in all, Jack's a very practical chap.
(not comparable) Of a prop: having some degree of functionality, rather than being a mere imitation.
Light fixtures used for set lighting and seen in the frame of a shot as part of the scenery.
- Practical lighting can help sell the illusion that the film is a real situation.

Noun

practical (plural practicals)

(UK) A part of an exam or series of exams in which the candidate has to demonstrate their practical ability
A prop that has some degree of functionality, rather than being a mere imitation.
- Practicals are used onstage as they would be used in real life. If the sound cue is to be from a radio or television, give qualities to the recording that will maintain the sense of the medium.2013, Deena Kaye, James LeBrecht, Sound and Music for the Theatre: The Art & Technique of Design
A light fixture used for set lighting and seen in the frame of a shot as part of the scenery.
- A naturalistic set is normally dressed with all the furnishings and props to be found in a real room. This includes electric light fittings which, when they actually light, are known as practicals.2001, Francis Reid, The Stage Lighting Handbook, page 124
Laboratory experiment, test or investigation

practical meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

practical in Hindi

based on practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis: प्रायोगिक prāyogik
being likely to be effective and applicable to a real situation: प्रायोगिक prāyogik, क्रियात्मक kriyātmak, व्यवहारिक vyavhārik
a part of an exam or series of exams in which the candidate has to demonstrate their practical ability: प्रायोगिक prāyogik

practical in Tamil

நடைமுறைக்கு, நடைமுறை, செயற்கல்வி, செய்முறை

practical in Marathi

व्यावहारिक

practical in Urdu

عملی, پریکٹیکل

More languagesFewer languages

practical in Bengali: ব্যবহারিক, কার্যকর, ফলিত, প্রমাণিত
practical in Telugu: ప్రాక్టికల్, ఆచరణాత్మక, ఆచరణాత్మకమైనది
practical in Malayalam: പ്രായോഗിക prāyōgika
practical in Kannada: ಮಾಡಿ ತೋರಿಸಬಲ್ಲ, ಮಾಡಬಲ್ಲ, ಮಾಡಿನೋಡುವ, ಬಳಕೆಯ
practical in Punjabi: ਵਿਹਾਰਕ, ਵਿਵਹਾਰਕ
practical in Gujarati: વ્યવહારુ, વ્યવહારીક, વ્યવહારિક
practical in Odia: ବ୍ଯ଼ବହାରିକ, ବ୍ଯ଼ାବହାରିକ
practical in Nepali: व्यावहारिक
practical in Tagalog: panggamitin, maisasagawa
practical in Arabic: تَطْبِيقِيّ taṭbīqiyy, عَمَلِيّ ʕamaliyy
practical in Indonesian: praktis, praktikum
practical in Persian: پراتیک prâtik

Examples of practical in a sentence

The class put a whoopee cushion on the teacher's chair as a practical joke.
He has a textbook understanding of company law but no practical experience of litigation.
His practical joke misfired and he nearly burnt my left hand.

All 40 example sentences with practical

Antonyms of practical

Forms of practical

Adjective
comparative	more practical
superlative	most practical
Noun
plural	practicals

Origin of practical

From Middle English practical, practicale, praktycall, from Medieval Latin practicālis.

Phrases with practical

Questions about practical

What does practical mean?: Practical means relating to, or based on, practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis.
What is practical in Hindi?: Practical in Hindi is प्रायोगिक (prāyogik), क्रियात्मक (kriyātmak), व्यवहारिक (vyavhārik). See Practical meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is practical?: Practical can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce practical?: Practical is pronounced /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəl/ (UK).

Words near practical in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: practical (page history and authors); practical (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); practical (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); practical (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); practical (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); practical (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); പ്രായോഗിക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); practical (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); practical (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); practical (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); practical (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); practical (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-practical.ogg.

Cite this entry: “practical.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/practical. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.