regular

REG-yuh-lur/ˈɹɛɡ.jə.lɚ/UKREG-yuu-luh/ˈɹɛɡ.jʊ.lə(ɹ)/

30 meanings of regular

1
adjectiveUS
Of the ordinary kind, with nothing special, extra, or unusual about it; normal or standard.
She lives a regular life with a steady job and a quiet home.
The diner serves regular coffee unless you ask for decaf.
UsageOften the plain kind set against a special one: regular or decaf, regular or large, regular or premium gas.
Similarnormal, ordinary, standard, typical, common
Oppositeweird, outlandish
Note
An American habit of the word: regular marks the default, the ordinary version of something. The line between this and the intensifying use is thin. When Beth tells Jo "You're a regular Shakespeare!" in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (1868–69), "ordinary" has already turned emphatic. Joseph C. Lincoln's "reg'lar terror of a sou'wester" (1913) makes the same slide.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women, first published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. en.wikipedia.org
Beth tells Jo, "You're a regular Shakespeare!" in Little Women. gutenberg.org
The phrase "reg'lar terror of a sou'wester" occurs in Joseph C. Lincoln's Mr. Pratt's Patients. upload.wikimedia.org
The Lincoln work containing the quotation was first published in 1913. openlibrary.org
2
periodicadjective
Happening again and again with the same, often short, gap in between; evenly spaced in time.
The patient receives regular checkups every three months.
Trains arrive at regular intervals throughout the day.
UsageCommon in set phrases: at regular intervals, on a regular basis.
Similarperiodic, cyclical, periodical, cyclic
Oppositeirregular
3
repeat (person)adjective
Of a person: habitually and frequently doing a particular thing or going to a particular place.
As a regular customer, he knew every waiter in the diner by name.
Regular users of the trail have complained about the broken signs.
UsageUsually before a noun naming a role: a regular customer, regular readers, regular visitors.
Similarfrequent, habitual
Oppositeoccasional, infrequent
Note
This is the adjective behind a familiar noun. Drop the noun from a regular customer and what is left is a regular, the frequent visitor: the bartender greets the regulars by name.
4
adjective
Being the usual one for a particular person; the one they normally go to, use, or do rather than another.
She skipped her regular Saturday run because of the storm.
When his regular barber retired, he tried three shops before finding one he liked.
UsageUsually after my, her, his and so on: my regular doctor, his regular seat.
Similarusual, customary
5
nouncountable
A person who often goes to the same place or uses the same business, such as a customer of a bar, shop or restaurant.
He became a regular at the gym, showing up every single morning.
The pub's regulars always sat at the same worn table.
UsageUsually a regular at a place: a regular at the gym, the regulars at the pub.
6
nouncountable
Someone who normally plays for a team or appears in a show or series, as opposed to appearing only occasionally.
He started as a guest star and was made a regular in the third season.
With several first-team regulars injured, the coach had to call up young players.
UsageOften a regular in the team or on a show; television casts have series regulars.
7
permanent jobadjective
Employed on a permanent, ongoing basis, rather than temporarily, casually, or only from time to time.
Contract workers do not receive the health benefits offered to regular employees.
The paper relies on freelancers because it can no longer afford many regular reporters.
Similarpermanent
Oppositetemporary, casual
Note
The contrast is with contract, freelance, temporary or casual work, not with anything unusual. Regular employees are not average ones; they are the ones on the permanent payroll, often with benefits others lack. It is the workplace counterpart of the "regular troops" meaning, where regular also marks the standing, permanent body as against those brought in for a time.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Permanent employees often receive benefits that temporary employees lack. dol.gov
8
nouncountable
Something that is normal or standard; the usual version.
When asked which size she wanted, she chose the regular.
The menu offers a small, a regular, and a large.
Similarstandard
9
full-time armyadjective
Of an army or troops: kept up permanently as a professional force, rather than raised only when needed.
Regular soldiers were deployed alongside reservists during the crisis.
The country maintains a small but well-equipped regular army.
Similarprofessional, standing
Oppositeirregular
Note
A soldier's word for the standing force, as opposed to troops raised only for a season. A regular army is permanent and professional, while reservists and militia are called up when needed. Its opposite is irregular, which here means outside the regular armed forces, as militias and guerrillas are, rather than uneven or untidy. The noun grows directly from this: a full-time soldier or police officer is a regular.
10
adverbdialectal
Regularly; habitually or at recurring intervals.
She writes to her sister regular, every Sunday without fail.
"All we've got to do is stick 'em in the bedroom and feed 'em regular."
1988, Mary Steele, Mallyroot's Pub at Misery Ponds
UsageUsually at the end of the clause: he comes by regular. In careful writing use regularly.
Note
The adverb without its -ly, a flat adverb that tends to sit at the end of its clause. George Eliot gives it to a speaker in Silas Marner (1861): "coming to church reg'lar." It turns up in characters' voices from John Buchan in 1902 to Colin Thiele in 1961.

Less common meanings

11
adjective
Even and orderly; following a consistent pattern in form, arrangement or rhythm.
Her breathing settled into a regular rhythm as she fell asleep.
The waves broke on the shore in a slow, regular pattern all night.
12
grammaradjective
Following a language's usual patterns or rules without exceptional changes.
Spanish has many regular verbs that follow predictable conjugation patterns.
A regular noun simply adds an -s to become plural.
Oppositeirregular
Note
Grammar's use of the word sorts forms by whether they follow the default pattern. Walk and walked are regular; sing and sang are not. Grammarians have a second pair of terms for verbs, weak and strong: weak verbs include the regular ones but also irregular ones such as keep and kept, while strong verbs change their vowel. For nouns, a regular plural adds -s or -es, with predictable spelling changes, and irregular covers departures from that pattern.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Weak verbs form their past tense with a dental suffix; some are irregular, including keep–kept and bring–brought. en.wikipedia.org
Regular plurals also include -es and predictable spelling changes such as lady–ladies. en.wikipedia.org
13
equal sidesadjective
In geometry: of a polygon, having all sides and all angles equal; of a solid, having identical regular faces, with the same number meeting at every corner.
A regular hexagon has six equal sides and six equal angles.
Equilateral triangles are the simplest regular polygons.
Note
A geometer's word with two conditions, not one. Equal sides alone make a polygon equilateral, and equal angles alone make it equiangular. Only both together make it regular. A non-square rhombus has the first without the second, and a non-square rectangle has the second without the first, which is why the square is the only regular four-sided figure.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
A polygon is equilateral if all its sides are equal. en.wikipedia.org
A polygon is equiangular if all its angles are equal. en.wikipedia.org
A regular polygon must be both equilateral and equiangular. en.wikipedia.org
This applies to a non-square rhombus. A square is also a rhombus and has all angles equal. en.wikipedia.org
This applies to a non-square rectangle. A square is also a rectangle and has all sides equal. en.wikipedia.org
The square is the only regular quadrilateral in Euclidean geometry. en.wikipedia.org
14
body cyclesadjective
Having bowel movements or menstrual periods at constant, expected intervals.
A diet rich in fiber and water helps most people stay regular.
She tracked her cycle for months to confirm it was regular.
UsageA set phrase: fiber keeps you regular. Said of a person, it comes after the verb: stay regular, be regular.
Oppositeirregular
Note
A polite way of talking about the body, and most often about digestion. Bill Bryson plays on that politeness in The Road to Little Dribbling (2015), wondering what gulls eat that "certainly keeps them regular."
15
full-time soldiernouncountable
A full-time, professional member of the armed forces or police, as opposed to a reservist, volunteer or national serviceman.
The squad was staffed entirely by regulars rather than volunteers.
Every regular in the battalion had served for at least six years, while the reservists had only trained on weekends.
16
adjectivecolloquial
Serving as an intensifier before a noun, marking someone or something as a true, complete, or downright example of a type.
The new recruit turned out to be a regular hero during the rescue.
Their backyard has become a regular zoo with all those animals.
UsageBefore a noun, usually after a: a regular genius, a regular Shakespeare. He is regular cannot mean this.
Similarcomplete, absolute, outright, downright, thorough
Note
Famous names are favorite targets, as in The Simpsons episode "Homer's Phobia" (1997): "you'll be a regular Burt Reynolds." The phrase means "every inch a," not "ordinary."
17
nounCanadacountable
A cup of coffee served with one cream and one sugar.
Ask for a regular and you get one cream, one sugar; ask for a double-double and you get two of each.
Trying to cut back on sugar, she gave up her daily double-double and started ordering a regular instead.
Note
A Canadian counter order: say "a regular" and you get one cream and one sugar, with no further instructions needed. The word can do its work as a noun, so you can order a regular as well as a regular coffee. Outside that setting, regular coffee more often means the plain default of the "ordinary" sense, so the order can be misread.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
In Canada, a regular can mean a coffee with one cream and one sugar. en.wiktionary.org
Both a regular and a regular coffee can denote coffee with one cream and one sugar in Canada. en.wiktionary.org
18
left foot forwardadjective
Of a snowboarder or skater: riding with the left foot leading.
She rides regular, leading with her left foot down the slope.
Most beginners find a regular stance easier than goofy.
Oppositegoofy
Note
Board-sport slang for which foot leads. Regular means left foot forward, and its opposite is goofy, right foot forward. Neither stance is more correct than the other; the names simply sort riders. The word works before a noun (a regular stance) and after a verb to describe how someone rides (she rides regular).
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Regular means left foot forward; goofy means right foot forward. dev.canadasnowboard.ca
Neither stance is inherently more correct. burton.com
19
monasticadjective
Belonging to a monastic or religious order and bound by its rule, as distinguished from secular clergy.
The regular clergy lived in monasteries under a strict rule.
He joined a regular order rather than becoming a parish priest.
Similarmonastic
Oppositesecular
Note
The oldest logic in the word is on show here. Latin rēgula meant "rule," and the regular clergy are those who live under one, a monastic rule with its vows. Their standing counterpart is the secular clergy, who serve in the world, and the two are usually named as a pair. Colin Jones's The Great Nation (2002) calls the regular clergy "unpopular" in the years before 1789. A member of such an order is a regular, as a noun.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 7 facts
Latin rēgula meant “rule.” en.wiktionary.org
Regular clergy follow a religious rule and take vows. newadvent.org
Secular clergy are the counterpart of regular clergy and live in the world. newadvent.org
Regular and secular clergy are frequently named together. newadvent.org
Colin Jones wrote The Great Nation, first published in 2002. ci.nii.ac.jp
Jones describes the regular clergy as “unpopular” in a passage about their decline before 1789. en.wiktionary.org
A member of a religious order can be called a regular. en.wiktionary.org
20
a vowed membernouncountable
Someone who belongs to a religious order and has taken its three customary vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
As a regular, the friar answered first to the head of his order rather than to the local bishop.
As a regular, he owed obedience to his abbot rather than to a bishop.
21
adjective
Of a plant or animal, having every part of any one kind, such as a flower's petals, matching in size and shape.
Roses produce regular flowers with evenly matched petals.
A regular corolla shows the same shape repeated around its center.
Similarsymmetrical
Oppositeirregular
Note
Botanists and zoologists use it for symmetry built from matching parts. In a regular flower, every petal is like every other, so the bloom can be divided into equal halves along several lines. A regular sea urchin earns the word for the same reason. The technical equivalent for flowers is actinomorphic, or radially symmetrical.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
The petals of a regular flower match in size and shape. www2.victoriacollege.edu
A regular flower can be divided into matching halves along several planes. science-health.csu.edu.au
Regular sea urchins have radial symmetry. trinitygeologicalmuseum.com
Actinomorphic, radial and regular are equivalent terms for floral symmetry. life.illinois.edu
22
orderlyadjectivearchaic
Well-behaved and orderly; restrained, as of a person's lifestyle.
Similardecent, well-mannered, seemly
Oppositeirregular
Note
An older moral sense, now rare. A regular life was disciplined and temperate, not merely routine. Synonyms like decent and seemly show the approval it carried, and its opposite could be degenerate as readily as irregular. Use it today and most readers will hear the "at set intervals" meaning or the "ordinary" meaning instead, so a regular man now sounds merely ordinary rather than virtuous.
23
adjective
Of a ring, von Neumann regular, so that every left module over it is flat.
Note
An older name, still used, for what ring theorists also call von Neumann regular, or absolutely flat. The bare word also has a local-ring sense, which means something quite different. A reader who meets "regular ring" should check which is meant. An equivalent test for the older sense is that every element a has some x with axa = a.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
Regular ring is a historical name for a von Neumann regular ring. en.wikipedia.org
Von Neumann regular rings are also called absolutely flat rings. en.wikipedia.org
Regular ring remains current terminology for a von Neumann regular ring, particularly in noncommutative ring theory; its meaning depends on context. publications.mfo.de
The sense associated with regular local rings is distinct from von Neumann regularity. en.wikipedia.org
Von Neumann regularity is equivalent to every element a admitting an element x with axa = a. cambridge.org
24
adjective
Of a moon or satellite: orbiting relatively close to its planet in a prograde direction, with little tilt or eccentricity.
25
adjective
Of a crystal, belonging to the cubic or isometric system, with three equal axes meeting at right angles.
26
adjective
Of a measure: both outer regular and inner regular on every set in its domain.
27
adjective
Of a local ring: Noetherian, with the smallest number of generators of its maximal ideal equal to the ring's Krull dimension.
28
adjective
Of a variety or scheme: locally Noetherian and having a regular local ring at every point.
29
noun
In calendar reckoning, a number assigned to each year that, added to the concurrents, gives the weekday on which the Paschal full moon falls.
30
noun
In old calendar reckoning, a set number assigned to each month and used to work out the weekday, or the moon's age, on the month's first day.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English reguler, borrowed through Anglo-Norman and Middle French from Latin rēgulāris ("following rules for guidance"), from rēgula ("rule"), ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "move in a straight line."

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

Regular derives from Middle English reguler, with Anglo-Norman and Middle French sources ultimately deriving from Latin rēgulāris. en.wiktionary.org
Latin rēgulāris can describe conformity to rules. en.wiktionary.org
Latin rēgulāris derives from rēgula. en.wiktionary.org
Latin rēgula means rule. en.wiktionary.org
The word ultimately derives from a Proto-Indo-European root glossed as move in a straight line. en.wiktionary.org