tropical
Americanadjective
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pertaining to, characteristic of, occurring in, or inhabiting the tropics, especially the humid tropics.
tropical flowers.
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very hot and humid.
a tropical climate.
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designed for use in the tropics or in very hot weather (often used in combination).
tropical-weight woolens.
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of or relating to either or both of the astronomical tropics.
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pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of a trope or tropes; metaphorical.
noun
adjective
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situated in, used in, characteristic of, or relating to the tropics
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(of weather) very hot, esp when humid
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rhetoric of or relating to a trope
Other Word Forms
- hypertropical adjective
- nontropical adjective
- nontropically adverb
- tropicality noun
- tropically adverb
- untropical adjective
- untropically adverb
Etymology
Origin of tropical
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“A tropical weather pattern makes them really active, busy biting, getting blood meals and laying eggs,” said Cary Svoboda, supervisor of Ventura County’s vector control program.
From Los Angeles Times
"Our results help to improve global climate models, because tropical lakes and wetlands have been underrepresented in these models so far," as Six stated.
From Science Daily
Prices were also lifted by lingering concerns over slowing growth in overall tropical oil productions, they added.
Scorpion stings are an often overlooked public health problem, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions.
From Science Daily
Under the tropical sun, vegetation has been encroaching on the vast concrete and metal structures that once vented flames created by giant rockets blasting off into space.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
