constitutional

Pluralconstitutionals

1. 1
   adjective

   Relating to the basic laws and primary principles that govern a nation or other institution.

   The court examined whether the statute fell within constitutional limits.

   Scholars debated the constitutional basis for the president's emergency order.

   Note

   Behind the legal sense lies Middle English constitucioun, which already meant an edict, a body of laws, a set of fundamental principles. Here the adjective classifies rather than judges: a constitutional right, amendment, reform or crisis is one that concerns the basic law. A constitutional question can still end with a ruling that something is unconstitutional. For the verdict itself, see the 'valid under the constitution' meaning.

2. 2
   adjective

   In keeping with, or permitted under, the provisions of a legal or political constitution.

   The supreme court ruled that the search was constitutional.

   Lawmakers insisted that their bill was fully constitutional.

   Similarlawful, legal, legitimate, valid

   Oppositeunconstitutional, nonconstitutional, anticonstitutional

   Note

   Here the word delivers a verdict, and it typically follows a verb of judgment: a court finds a statute constitutional, or rules that a search was. The body that gives such rulings may itself be called a Constitutional Court, as Thailand's was in 2021 when it decided on marriage. The negatives are unconstitutional, anticonstitutional and nonconstitutional.

3. 3
   adjective

   Of a monarch: holding a largely ceremonial role, with powers limited by a constitution rather than absolute or unlimited.

   The constitutional monarch signs bills into law but cannot veto them.

   As a constitutional sovereign, she reigns without governing.

   Oppositeabsolute

   Note

   A political label for a sovereign rather than a law. A constitutional monarch is set against one who holds plenary, unlimited power. The term covers two arrangements: a crown that is purely ceremonial, and a crown whose powers are real but bounded by a constitution. The usual nouns it describes are monarch and sovereign, as in she reigns without governing.

4. 4
   adjective

   Relating to the makeup or composition of something; essential and fundamental to what it is.

   These principles form the constitutional foundation of the organization.

   Balance is a constitutional aspect of the entire design.

   Similarfundamental, essential, basic, intrinsic, inherent

   Oppositeincidental, peripheral, superficial

5. 5
   adjective

   Belonging to or inherent in the natural makeup or structure of a person's body or mind.

   His constitutional resilience helped him recover quickly from the illness.

   A constitutional weakness in the lungs ran through the family.

   Similarinherent, innate, inborn, congenital, intrinsic

   Oppositeacquired

   Note

   The adjective is built from constitution plus -al, 'of or pertaining to,' and here constitution means the makeup a person carries from within. It reaches the mind as readily as the body: a constitutional infirmity sits beside constitutional ardor or dullness. Reach for it when a trait is felt to be inherent and lasting, not for a passing mood or an injury.

6. 6
   adjective

   Intended to benefit one's health or physical constitution.

   An evening constitutional walk was part of his daily routine.

   She swore by her morning constitutional exercise for keeping fit.

   Note

   Here the word looks forward, to what will do the body good, rather than back to what it is already made of, as in the inborn sense. It stands before a noun naming a healthy habit, as in a constitutional walk. That phrase is where the noun "constitutional" comes from: drop walk, and the adjective carries the whole meaning by itself.

7. 7
   nouncountable

   A walk taken regularly for the sake of one's health and wellbeing.

   He set off on his afternoon constitutional along the river.

   Her doctor recommended a brisk constitutional each day.

   Similarwalk, stroll, ramble

   Note

   This noun measures a walk by time and habit: an afternoon constitutional, a two-hour constitutional. The walker need not walk. In The Guardian's 2022 obituary of Queen Elizabeth II, the infant is taken on a two-hour constitutional in her pram to Hyde Park and back. Be careful with morning constitutional, which can also mean the bathroom euphemism. Mention a route or a destination to keep it a walk.

8. 8
   nouneuphemisticcountable

   A polite, indirect word for an act of defecation.

   He disappeared into the lavatory for his post-breakfast constitutional.

   At the campsite she grabbed a roll of toilet paper and a trowel and headed into the woods for a quick constitutional.

   Note

   A euphemism that works by saying nothing about the act, so the setting has to say it: an outhouse, a latrine, a bathroom. Tom A. Johnson's To the Limit (2006) has two sergeants arriving at the officers' latrine at the same moment to take one. The verb that goes with it is take, as in he went into the bathroom to take his morning constitutional.

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