Standard Lemma guide

tropical

adj · noun · 9 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: /ˈtɹɒp.ɪ.kəl/
  • London: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɒpɪkəl
  • General-American, dialectal: /ˈtɹɑ.pɪ.kəl/ of Canada
  • California: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɑpɪkəl
  • Canada, dialectal: /ˈtɹɒp.ɪ.kəl/ of the US
  • Australian: /ˈtɹɔp.ɪ.kəl/
  • New-Zealand: /ˈtɹɒp.ə.kəl/
  • New-Zealand: [ˈtɹɔ̟p.ə.kəl]
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtɹəʊ.pɪ.kəl/
  • /ˈtɹɒp.ɪ.kəl/
  • General-American: /ˈtɹoʊ.pɪ.kəl/
  • rhymes with -əʊpɪkəl
  • CMU ARPABET: T R AA1 P IH0 K AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or pertaining to the tropics, the equatorial region between 23 degrees north and 23 degrees south.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

From, or similar to, a hot, humid climate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • We've had a lot of tropical nights this summer.
  • My favorite tropical fruits are pineapples and coconuts.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Pertaining to, involving, or of the nature of a trope or tropes; figurative, metaphorical.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Pertaining to tropical geometry.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A tropical plant.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective

Meaning 6

of or relating to the tropics, or either tropic

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • tropical year

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

adjective satellite

Meaning 7

of weather or climate; hot and humid as in the tropics

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • tropical weather

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tropic

Antonyms: none provided

8

adjective satellite

Meaning 8

characterized by or of the nature of a trope or tropes; changed from its literal sense

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

adjective satellite

Meaning 9

relating to or situated in or characteristic of the tropics (the region on either side of the equator)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • tropical islands
  • tropical fruit

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tropic

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From tropic + -al.

Across languages

Translations

76 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مَدَارِيّ (madāriyy) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Armenian: արեւադարձային (arewadarjayin) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Bengali: গ্রীষ্মমণ্ডলীয় (griśśõmonḍoliẏo) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Bulgarian: тропически (tropičeski) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Catalan: tropical — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Chinese Mandarin: 熱帶 /热带 (rèdài) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Chinese Mandarin: 回歸線 /回归线 (huíguīxiàn) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Czech: tropický — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Danish: tropisk — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Finnish: trooppinen — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • French: tropical — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Friulian: tropicâl — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Galician: tropical — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • German: tropisch — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Greek: τροπικός (tropikós) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Gujarati: ઉષ્ણકટિબંધીય (uṣṇakṭibandhīya) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Hebrew: טְרוֹפִּי (tropi) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Hindi: उष्णकटिबंधीय (uṣṇakṭibandhīya) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Hungarian: trópusi — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Hungarian: tropikus — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Icelandic: hitabeltis- — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Indonesian: tropis — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Ingrian: tropiceskoi — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Irish: teochriosach — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Irish: trópaiceach — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Italian: tropicale — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Japanese: 熱帯 (nettai) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Japanese: 回帰線 (kakisen) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Kazakh: тропиктік (tropiktık) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Korean: 열대 (yeoldae) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Macedonian: тро́пски (trópski) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Māori: pārūrū — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Norwegian Bokmål: tropisk — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: tropisk — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Polish: tropikalny — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Polish: zwrotnikowy — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Portuguese: tropical — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Romanian: tropical — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Russian: тропи́ческий (tropíčeskij) — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Scottish Gaelic: tropaigeach — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Spanish: tropical — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Swahili: kitropiki — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Tagalog: alindanga — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Turkish: tropikal — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Vietnamese: vùng nhiệt đới — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Welsh: trofannol — of or pertaining to the tropics
  • Arabic: مَدَارِيّ (madāriyy) — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Bengali: গ্রীষ্মমণ্ডলীয় (griśśõmonḍoliẏo) — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Catalan: tropical — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Chinese Mandarin: 熱帶 /热带 (rèdài) — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Czech: tropický — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Danish: tropisk — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Finnish: trooppinen — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • French: tropical — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • German: tropisch — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Greek: τροπικός (tropikós) — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Hindi: उष्णकटिबंधीय (uṣṇakṭibandhīya) — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Hungarian: trópusi — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Hungarian: tropikus — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Ingrian: tropiceskoi — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Irish: teochriosach — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Irish: trópaiceach — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Italian: tropicale — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Japanese: 熱帯 (nettai) — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Kazakh: тропикалық (tropikalyq) — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Kazakh: тропиктік (tropiktık) — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Korean: 열대 (yeoldae) — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Macedonian: тро́пски (trópski) — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Māori: pārūrū — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Polish: tropikalny — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Portuguese: tropical — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Romanian: tropical — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Russian: тропи́ческий (tropíčeskij) — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Scottish Gaelic: tropaigeach — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Spanish: tropical — from or similar to a hot humid climate
  • Polish: roślina tropikalna — tropical plant
Real reading context

tropical in complete knowledge articles