nominal
18
7.3
- adjective
- /ˈnɑːmɪnəl/
:
nominal
- Economic reform is advanced by rapid sale at low or even nominal prices.
- a nominal role
- nominal independence
- nominal elections
Examples
-
At best, no more than a third of the population were even nominal adherents by the mid-1970s.
Academic text (1999) -
The purpose is to enable a minority to select candidates to the legislature who will be it's real, not nominal representatives.
-
Black Moon, the nominal leader of the Black Point, stepped out from the crowd.
Fiction book (1992) -
But this was gradually becoming a nominal position, as power slipped away from him.
Academic text (1992) -
Apache band or clan chiefs had only nominal power and could not dictate or control clan behavior.
Academic text (1993) -
The ethnic Tajik is still recognized by several countries as the nominal president of Afghanistan.
-
There were no job openings, so Prokhorov created a nominal position for me: Director of Special Programs.
-
Growing up in Pacifica, Rodriguez was a nominal member of the Catholic Church.
Synonyms
5
6.7
Done only to show support or agreement, not to make a real change
4
7.6
Having a position or right only in name with no real power
A small action done only to show support but not to change things
Antonyms
Compounds
- Specialized
1
9.7
A condition that makes it hard to say or recognize common object names
- Specialized
1
6.3
A price that a company writes on a share or bond, not the market price
- Formal
A small sum a court gives to show a legal right is broken without real loss
- Specialized
A group of words with a noun as the main word acting as subject or object
How Real
Surface Forms
Morphology
nominal = nomin + al
Although historically related to a Latin stem meaning 'name', the structure and sense of 'existing in name only' are not recoverable from modern English morphemes.
Etymology
Nominal comes from the Latin nomen, which means 'name'. So when something is nominal it is 'in name' only — it has the title or name but not the real power or size.