radical

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɹædɪkəl/ See IPA manual

Homophones

radicle /ˈɹædɪkəl/

Freq #6529

Meanings

1

adj
Involving great or complete change.

The new manager made radical changes to the company.
2

adj
Supporting big political or social change, often in an extreme way.

He joined a radical group that demanded an end to the government.
3

noun
A person who wants big or extreme political or social change.

As a young man he was a radical who marched in every protest.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

jacobin jacobinic jacobinical

Opposites

derivative derived

Word family

Forms radicals

Derived forms antiradicalbiradicalcoradicalcounterradicalderadicaldiradicaldudicalequiradicalextraradicalheteroradicalhyperradicalintraradical

Related forms nilradicalradixroot

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

free radical
an atom or group of atoms containing at least one unpaired electron

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Radical comes from Latin radix, meaning “root.” Its earliest English sense was “fundamental” or “concerning the basic nature of something”; the political sense later arose for reform that goes to the root of a problem.

Etymology

PIE word *wréh₂ds Inherited from Middle English radical, from Latin rādīcālis (“of or pertaining to the root, having roots, radical”). Compare grassroots.

radical Middle English rādīcālis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# radical

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɹædɪkəl/
**Frequency rank:** 6529

## Meanings
1. Involving great or complete change.
2. Supporting big political or social change, often in an extreme way.
3. A person who wants big or extreme political or social change.

## Examples
- The new manager made radical changes to the company.
- He joined a radical group that demanded an end to the government.
- As a young man he was a radical who marched in every protest.

## Synonyms
- jacobin
- jacobinic
- jacobinical

## Antonyms
- derivative
- derived

## Derived Forms
- antiradical
- biradical
- coradical
- counterradical
- deradical
- diradical
- dudical
- equiradical
- extraradical
- heteroradical
- hyperradical
- intraradical

## Related Forms
- nilradical
- radix
- root

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: radical
- Root: rādīcālis

## Etymology
PIE word *wréh₂ds Inherited from Middle English radical, from Latin rādīcālis (“of or pertaining to the root, having roots, radical”). Compare grassroots.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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