Standard Lemma guide

emotional

adj · noun · 12 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪˈməʊʃənəl/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪˈməʊʃnəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ɪˈmoʊʃənəl/
  • General-American: /ɪˈmoʊʃnəl/
  • General-American: /iˈmoʊʃənəl/
  • rhymes with -əʊʃənəl
  • CMU ARPABET: IH0 M OW1 SH AH0 N AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: IY1 M OW2 SH AH0 N AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or relating to the emotions.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • emotional crisis
  • emotional lift

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: temperamental

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Characterized by emotion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sentimental

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Determined by strong emotion rather than purely logical reasoning.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • emotional decision

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sentimental

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Appealing to or arousing emotion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • emotional speech

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: poignant, touching, affecting, striking, eloquent, emotional, persuasive, stunning, expressive, heartbreaking, meaningful, heartrending, significant, emotive, gripping, disturbing, upsetting, dramatic, arousing, soul stirring

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Easily affected by emotion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • She’s an emotional person.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: passionate, perfervid

Antonyms: none provided

6

adj

Meaning 6

Readily displaying emotion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • emotional greeting

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: demonstrative, effusive

Antonyms: none provided

7

adj

Meaning 7

Overwhelmed by mixed emotions, moved, almost tearful.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • She became emotional hearing about the passing of her mother.
  • I felt so emotional seeing my three-legged poodle win first prize.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: overwhelmed, moved, overcome

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

An emotional person

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

adjective

Meaning 9

of more than usual emotion

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • his behavior was highly emotional

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: unemotional

10

adjective

Meaning 10

determined or actuated by emotion rather than reason

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • it was an emotional judgment

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: cerebral

11

adjective

Meaning 11

of or pertaining to emotion

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • emotional health
  • an emotional crisis

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

adjective satellite

Meaning 12

(of persons) excessively affected by emotion

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he would become emotional over nothing at all
  • she was worked up about all the noise

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aroused, excited, worked up

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h1éǵh Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h1éǵhs Proto-Italic *eks Latin ex Latin ex- Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh1- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh1éyetider. Proto-Italic *moweō Latin moveō Latin ēmoveō Vulgar Latin *exmovēre Old French esmovoir Middle French esmouvoir Middle French emotionbor. English emotion English -al English emotional From emotion + -al.

Across languages

Translations

143 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: чувствен (čuvstven) — of or relating to the emotions
  • Catalan: emocional — of or relating to the emotions
  • Chinese Mandarin: 感情的 (gǎnqíng de) — of or relating to the emotions
  • Czech: emoční — of or relating to the emotions
  • Czech: citový — of or relating to the emotions
  • Danish: følelsesmæssig — of or relating to the emotions
  • Danish: emotionel — of or relating to the emotions
  • Dutch: gevoelsmatig — of or relating to the emotions
  • Esperanto: emocia — of or relating to the emotions
  • Esperanto: afekcia — of or relating to the emotions
  • Finnish: tunne- — of or relating to the emotions
  • French: émotionnel — of or relating to the emotions
  • Galician: emocional — of or relating to the emotions
  • German: emotional — of or relating to the emotions
  • Hebrew: רִגְשִׁי (rigshi) — of or relating to the emotions
  • Hungarian: érzelmi — of or relating to the emotions
  • Hungarian: érzelmes — of or relating to the emotions
  • Hungarian: hangulati — of or relating to the emotions
  • Italian: emotivo — of or relating to the emotions
  • Italian: emozionante — of or relating to the emotions
  • Japanese: 感情的 (kanjōteki) — of or relating to the emotions
  • Korean: 감성적인 (gamseongjeogin) — of or relating to the emotions
  • Latvian: emocionāls — of or relating to the emotions
  • Maltese: emozzjonali — of or relating to the emotions
  • Norwegian Bokmål: emosjonell — of or relating to the emotions
  • Norwegian Bokmål: følelsesmessig — of or relating to the emotions
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: emosjonell — of or relating to the emotions
  • Occitan: emocional — of or relating to the emotions
  • Polish: emocjonalny — of or relating to the emotions
  • Polish: uczuciowy — of or relating to the emotions
  • Portuguese: emocional — of or relating to the emotions
  • Portuguese: emotivo — of or relating to the emotions
  • Romanian: emoțional — of or relating to the emotions
  • Russian: эмоциона́льный (emocionálʹnyj) — of or relating to the emotions
  • Russian: чу́вственный (čúvstvennyj) — of or relating to the emotions
  • Spanish: emocional — of or relating to the emotions
  • Swahili: simikwa — of or relating to the emotions
  • Swedish: emotionell — of or relating to the emotions
  • Swedish: känslomässig — of or relating to the emotions
  • Tagalog: madamdamin — of or relating to the emotions
  • Turkish: duygusal — of or relating to the emotions
  • Bulgarian: емоционален (emocionalen) — characterised by emotion
  • Catalan: emocional — characterised by emotion
  • Chinese Mandarin: 感情的 (gǎnqíng de) — characterised by emotion
  • Dutch: emotioneel — characterised by emotion
  • Finnish: tunteellinen — characterised by emotion
  • French: émotionnel — characterised by emotion
  • Galician: emocional — characterised by emotion
  • German: emotional — characterised by emotion
  • Hebrew: רִגְשִׁי (rigshi) — characterised by emotion
  • Italian: emotivo — characterised by emotion
  • Japanese: 感情的 (kanjōteki) — characterised by emotion
  • Latvian: emcionāls — characterised by emotion
  • Maltese: emozzjonali — characterised by emotion
  • Māori: whakaaroharoha — characterised by emotion
  • Polish: emocjonalny — characterised by emotion
  • Polish: gorący — characterised by emotion
  • Polish: wrażliwy — characterised by emotion
  • Portuguese: emocional — characterised by emotion
  • Portuguese: emocionado — characterised by emotion
  • Portuguese: emotivo — characterised by emotion
  • Romanian: emoțional — characterised by emotion
  • Russian: эмоциона́льный (emocionálʹnyj) — characterised by emotion
  • Spanish: emocional — characterised by emotion
  • Swahili: simikwa — characterised by emotion
  • Swedish: känslosam — characterised by emotion
  • Swedish: känslofylld — characterised by emotion
  • Swedish: känsloladdad — characterised by emotion
  • Tagalog: madamdamin — characterised by emotion
  • Turkish: duygusal — characterised by emotion
  • Bulgarian: емоционален (emocionalen) — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Catalan: emocional — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Finnish: tunnepohjainen — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Finnish: tunteeseen perustuva — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • French: émotif — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Galician: emocional — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • German: emotional — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Hebrew: רִגְשִׁי (rigshi) — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Italian: emotivo — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Maltese: emozzjonali — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Portuguese: emocional — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Portuguese: emotivo — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Romanian: emoțional — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Russian: эмоциона́льный (emocionálʹnyj) — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Spanish: emocional — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Spanish: emotivo — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Swahili: simikwa — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Swedish: känslostyrd — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Swedish: emotionell — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Tagalog: madamdamin — determined by strong emotion rather than strictly logical reasoning
  • Bulgarian: вълнуващ (vǎlnuvašt) — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Catalan: emocional — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Finnish: tunteisiin vetoava — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Galician: emocional — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • German: emotional — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Indonesian: emosional — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Irish: corraitheach — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Italian: emozionante — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Italian: commovente — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Latvian: emocionāls — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Māori: whakaaroharoha — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Portuguese: emocional — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Portuguese: comovente — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Romanian: emoționant — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Russian: эмоциона́льный (emocionálʹnyj) — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Russian: волну́ющий (volnújuščij) — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Swahili: simikwa — appealing to or arousing emotion
  • Catalan: emocional — easily affected by emotion
  • Chinese Mandarin: 情緒化 /情绪化 (qíngxùhuà) — easily affected by emotion
  • Finnish: tunteellinen — easily affected by emotion
  • Finnish: herkkätunteinen — easily affected by emotion
  • French: émotif — easily affected by emotion
  • German: emotional — easily affected by emotion
  • Hebrew: רִגְשִׁי (rigshi) — easily affected by emotion
  • Indonesian: emosional — easily affected by emotion
  • Italian: emotivo — easily affected by emotion
  • Italian: impressionabile — easily affected by emotion
  • Central Kurdish: سۆزدار (sozdar) — easily affected by emotion
  • Latvian: emocionāls — easily affected by emotion
  • Māori: panapana — easily affected by emotion
  • Portuguese: emotivo — easily affected by emotion
  • Portuguese: impressionável — easily affected by emotion
  • Romanian: emoționabil — easily affected by emotion
  • Romanian: emotiv — easily affected by emotion
  • Russian: эмоциона́льный (emocionálʹnyj) — easily affected by emotion
  • Russian: чувстви́тельный (čuvstvítelʹnyj) — easily affected by emotion
  • Swahili: simikwa — easily affected by emotion
  • Swedish: känslosam — easily affected by emotion
  • Bulgarian: емоционален (emocionalen) — readily displaying emotion
  • Catalan: emocional — readily displaying emotion
  • Finnish: tunteellinen — readily displaying emotion
  • Finnish: tunnepitoinen — readily displaying emotion
  • German: emotional — readily displaying emotion
  • Hebrew: רִגְשִׁי (rigshi) — readily displaying emotion
  • Central Kurdish: سۆزدار (sozdar) — readily displaying emotion
  • Latvian: emocionāls — readily displaying emotion
  • Maltese: emozzjonali — readily displaying emotion
  • Māori: whakaroharoha — readily displaying emotion
  • Māori: panapana — readily displaying emotion
  • Portuguese: emotivo — readily displaying emotion
  • Russian: эмоциона́льный (emocionálʹnyj) — readily displaying emotion
  • Swahili: simikwa — readily displaying emotion
  • Swedish: känslofull — readily displaying emotion
Real reading context

emotional in complete knowledge articles