conditional.

1. Valid, possible or granted only if a stated condition is met.

2. Relating to a grammatical construction that describes what happens or would happen if a condition holds.

3. A proposition that makes one statement dependent on another, commonly expressed as if one thing holds, then another holds.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• conditional approval
• conditional offer

On the page

The committee’s approval was conditional on independent inspection.

Her endorsement remained conditional, not an unrestricted commitment.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Relational or categorical adjective; ordinary comparative and superlative generally not applicable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, explanation, qualification. Disciplines: general academic writing. Commonness: common.