# operational

/ˌɑpɝˈeɪʃənəɫ/ (US) · /ˌɒpəɹˈeɪʃənəl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/operational
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. working and ready

adjective · CEFR B2

working correctly and ready to be used.

For teachers: functioning and ready for immediate use; in a state of practical readiness.

- The new hospital wing will be fully operational by the end of the month.
- Engineers worked through the night to ensure the power grid was fully operational before the morning commute began.

### 2. relating to business activities

adjective · CEFR C1 · Academic

relating to the daily activities or costs of running a business or organisation.

For teachers: pertaining to the routine activities, processes, or costs involved in running an organisation.

- The company is looking for ways to reduce its daily operational costs.
- The board focused on long-term strategy, leaving the day-to-day operational decisions to the local branch managers.

### 3. military actions

adjective · CEFR C1 · Formal

relating to planned military actions or missions.

For teachers: relating to the planning and execution of specific military operations.

- The general refused to comment on current operational details for security reasons.
- The mission was aborted due to a significant breach in operational security that compromised the safety of the ground team.

### 4. measurable

adjective · CEFR C2 · Academic · Technical

defined by how something is measured or used in practice.

For teachers: defined in terms of the specific actions or operations used to measure or identify it.

- The researchers needed an operational definition of 'happiness' for their study.
- Before the experiment could proceed, the team had to establish an operational framework for measuring cognitive load under stress.

## Examples

- The new hospital wing will be fully operational by next Monday.
- After the power outage, the IT team worked through the night to get the servers operational again.
- The company faced significant operational challenges during the merger, as the two different software systems were not yet compatible with one another.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.