ENGLISH
REFERENCE

nasal

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈneɪzəɫ// UK //nˈeɪzəl// nasal Archaic

adj. related to the nose or the way you breathe through it. It also describes a voice that sounds like the person is speaking through their nose.

adj. relating to the nose or the nasal cavity; in phonetics, describes a sound produced by air escaping through the nose while the mouth is closed.


SIMPLE

He has a very nasal voice because of his cold.

CONTEXTUAL

The doctor examined her nasal passages to see if allergies were causing the blockage.

COMPLEX

Linguists distinguish between oral and nasal vowels, noting that the latter are produced by lowering the soft palate to allow airflow through the nose.

Synonyms
Origin

From Middle English, from Medieval Latin nāsālis, from nāsus (“the nose”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). Doublet of nasalis.

Usage

Typically used as an attributive adjective before a noun.

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