presidential

Syllables: pres·i·den·tial/pɹɛzɪˈdɛnʃ(ə)l/

presidential adjective: pertaining to a president or presidency.

Adjective (1)

presidential (comparative more presidential, superlative most presidential)

Pertaining to a president or presidency.
- Take the New Right's full-throated embrace of protectionism and industrial policy. This romance with protectionism started in the 1990s with former GOP presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, gained enormous traction under former President Donald Trump, and is still going strong today.2024 March 20, Veronique de Rugy, “The Political Right Has Luxury Beliefs, Too”, in Reason
(obsolete) Presiding or watching over.
With the bearing or composure that befits a president; stately, dignified.
- I feel my age and supposed status mean I am permanently required to be in presidential mode. And I mean this in the old sense of “presidential”, meaning magnanimous, patient and generous, rather than in the modern sense of presidential, meaning being a corrupt, pussy-grabbing racist.2016 November 20, Stewart Lee, “No more schmoozing with the enemy on TV shows”, in The Guardian
(of prayers) addressed to God on behalf of the congregation by the presiding priest
- These prayers are addressed to God in the name of the entire holy people and all present, by the priest who presides over the assembly in the person of Christ. It is with good reason, therefore, that they are called the "presidential prayers."2002, General Instruction of the Roman Missal, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc., §30

Presidential (comparative more Presidential, superlative most Presidential)

Alternative letter-case form of presidential.
- Seward was not trusted by Greeley, Phillips, Lovejoy, and the radicals of their complexion. They apprehended that after using the "American citizens of African descent," until he (Seward) should be safely seated in the Presidential chair, he would abandon the negro and "Tylerize" their Party...1864, Thomas Jefferson Miles, To All Whom It May Concern
- With the annual Presidential dinner to the Cabinet as a curtain-raiser, there is a short intermission—just one day—before the Diplomatic Reception, when it seems as if the White House becomes a setting for a Graustarkian novel, so bejeweled, besashed, beturbaned, and betiaraed are the guests.1938 December 12, Derek Fox, “No “Grilled Millionaire” for Breakfast … White House Perks Up … Yule Gifts, Social Doings”, in The United States News, volume six, number fifty, Washington, D.C., page...

From president + -ial.

What does presidential mean?: Presidential means pertaining to a president or presidency.
What is presidential in Tagalog?: Presidential in Tagalog is pampanguluhan. See Presidential meaning in Tagalog.
What part of speech is presidential?: Presidential is an adjective.
How do you pronounce presidential?: Presidential is pronounced /pɹɛzɪˈdɛnʃ(ə)l/.

Adapted from Wiktionary: presidential (page history and authors); Presidential (page history and authors). 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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-Presidential.wav.

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