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general

ge·ne·ral

US/ˈd͡ʒɛn.(ə.)ɹəl/ very common informal
adjective (7) noun (3) verb (1)

adjective

1.

applying to all or most members of a category or group

  • “the general public”
  • “general assistance”
  • “a general rule”
  • “in general terms”
  • “comprehensible to the general reader”
Antonyms
Similar
2.

not specialized or limited to one class of things

  • “general studies”
  • “general knowledge”
Similar
3.

of national scope

  • “a general election”
Similar
4.

prevailing among and common to the general public

  • “the general discontent”
Similar
5.

affecting the entire body

  • “a general anesthetic”
  • “general symptoms”
Antonyms
Similar
6.

somewhat indefinite

  • “bearing a general resemblance to the original”
  • “a general description of the merchandise”
Similar
7.

of worldwide scope or applicability

  • “an issue of cosmopolitan import”
  • “the shrewdest political and ecumenical comment of our time” Christopher Morley
  • “universal experience”
Synonyms
Similar

noun

1.
2.
3.

a fact about the whole (as opposed to particular)

  • “he discussed the general but neglected the particular”
Antonyms

verb

1.

command as a general

  • “We are generaled by an incompetent!”

Origin

From Middle English general, in turn from Anglo-Norman general, generall, Middle French general, and their source, Latin generālis, from genus (“class, kind”) + -ālis (“-al”).

Phrases

  • General Lagos

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.