MEANING
1. Limited in outlook to the concerns or customs of one small community.
2. Relating to a parish, in literal religious or administrative usage.
Use it for
Local inwardness; exclusion of outsiders; resistance to wider perspectivesDescribe a community's narrowed horizon, not its mere size.
Words that belong together
- parochial outlook
- parochial community
- parochial attitudes
On the page
The town's parochial outlook treated every newcomer as a temporary guest.
A small village could be less parochial than an exclusive city club.
She challenged the neighborhood's parochial assumptions about who belonged.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- parochial
Usage notes
Primary category: setting. Usually critical in this sense; not every close-knit community is narrow-minded. The literal parish-related sense is separate and neutral. Comparative: more parochial; superlative: most parochial.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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