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
JoAnn ShroyerThe social worlds of neighborhood and village are now less important as transitional zones between home and nonhome settings.—Theano S. Terkenli
Theano S. Terkenli… turning into a civilian coup, that … established a transitional government and prepared the way for multi-party elections.—Larry Diamond
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
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
Edgar L. Feige
Examples of transitional in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
With local transitional knowledge and molecular classification of the soil, the team observed four groups of gorillas every day for almost 10 years.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 17 Apr. 2025
It’s made up of phases—early active years, transitional years, and later care-dependent years.
—Patti Brennan, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
While the cruise line did not provide details for either decision, Royal Caribbean’s latest move comes just over a week after Haiti’s transitional government declared a nationwide state of emergency.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2025
The two military factions had seized power from a transitional civilian government in 2021.
—Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR, 15 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for transitional
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Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 17 Apr. 2025
It’s made up of phases—early active years, transitional years, and later care-dependent years.
—Patti Brennan, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
While the cruise line did not provide details for either decision, Royal Caribbean’s latest move comes just over a week after Haiti’s transitional government declared a nationwide state of emergency.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2025
The two military factions had seized power from a transitional civilian government in 2021.
—Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR, 15 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for transitional
Cite this Entry
“Transitional.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transitional. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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