SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
radical
adjective
Involving a fundamental change or a large departure from established practice.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Fundamental departure
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topRadical changes alter basic structures or depart sharply from convention. Extreme concerns degree, and drastic stresses severity or force.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See radical in use
The radical redesign replaced the building's entire internal layout.
Many investors suffer from economic myopia (nearsightedness). They make radical changes in their portfolio based on short-term fluctuations in the market.
1 more example
Leila proposed a radical change: replace the single chair with rotating teams that shared responsibility for each exhibition.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license