- a variant of -ic: economical, fanatical
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
-ical, suffix.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- -ical, a combination of -icand-al1, is attached to roots to form adjectives with the meaning "of or relating to'':rhetor- + -ical → rhetorical.This suffix originally provided synonyms to adjectives that ended in -ic:poet + -ic → poetic;
poet + -ical → poetical. But some of these pairs of words or formations are now different in meaning:econom- + -ic → economic (= of or relating to economics); histor- + -ic → historic (= having a long history;important);histor- + -ical → historical (= happening in the past).
-ical,
- a combination of -ic and -al 1, used in forming adjectives from nouns (rhetorical), providing synonyms to words ending in -ic ( poetical), and providing an adjective with additional meanings to those in the -ic form (economical).
- Latin -icālis. See -ic, -al1
- Middle English
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
-ical suffix forming adjectives
'ical' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
-ic
- -ical
- Aaronical
- abiogenesis
- abiotic
- acetyl group
- acid radical
- acrobatic
- acrylyl group
- acyl group
- Adamic
- Adamite
- aerodynamics
- aerography
- aerology
- aeromechanics
- aeronautical
- aerostatic
- aetiology
- agnate
- agrobiology
- agrology
- agronomy
- agrostography
- agrostology
- ahistoric
- al
- alchemy
- alethiology
- algebraic
- alkyl group
- allotropic
- ally
- allyl group
- alphabetical
- alpha-naphthyl group
- alphanumeric
- amino group
- ammonic
- amyl radical
- anagenesis
- anaglyph
- anagogic
- anagram
- analytic
- analytical balance
- analytical chemistry
- analytical cubism
- analytical entry
- anathematic