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typical

American  
[tip-i-kuhl] / ˈtɪp ɪ kəl /
Rarely typic

adjective

  1. of the nature of or serving as a type or representative specimen.

    Synonyms:
    usual, stock, average, normal
  2. conforming to a particular type.

  3. Biology. exemplifying most nearly the essential characteristics of a higher group in natural history, and forming the type.

    the typical genus of a family.

  4. characteristic or distinctive.

    He has the mannerisms typical of his class.

  5. pertaining to, of the nature of, or serving as a type or emblem; symbolic.


typical British  
/ ˈtɪpɪkəl /

adjective

  1. being or serving as a representative example of a particular type; characteristic

    the painting is a typical Rembrandt

  2. considered to be an example of some undesirable trait

    that is typical of you!

  3. of or relating to a representative specimen or type

  4. conforming to a type

  5. biology having most of the characteristics of a particular taxonomic group

    a typical species of a genus

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • nontypical adjective
  • nontypicalness noun
  • quasi-typical adjective
  • typicality noun
  • typically adverb
  • typicalness noun
  • untypical adjective

Etymology

Origin of typical

First recorded in 1605–15; from Medieval Latin typicālis, equivalent to Late Latin typic(us) (from Greek typikós, equivalent to týp(os) type + -ikos -ic ) + Latin -ālis -al 1

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.

Prolonged wars are bad for a typical stock-and-bond portfolio as governments borrow more and consumers spend less.

From The Wall Street Journal

It has been estimated that a typical cremation has a footprint equivalent to about 320kg of carbon dioxide- Alkaline hydrolysis is found to result in the emission of seven times less CO2.

From BBC

Saturday is a typical school day in Iran.

From Los Angeles Times

They can do double-duty as both home heaters and AC units and are pretty good at maintaining a constant temperature inside a home without the blast-then-cool-off cycle typical of a furnace.

From Los Angeles Times

Their forms match the aerodynamic shapes typical of tektites, including spheres, ellipsoids, droplets, disks, dumbbells, and twisted shapes.

From Science Daily