optional

B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun

n. something that is not required, like an extra subject at school.

n. an item, such as a course of study or a vehicle feature, that is not compulsory.

“Leather seats are one of the many expensive optionals available for this car.”

“The curriculum includes three core sciences and a wide variety of optionals ranging from art history to computer science.”

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Computing Technical

n. a type of data in computer code that might or might not have a value.

n. a container or wrapper type that may or may not contain a meaningful value, used to handle null cases safely.

“The function returns an optional because the user might not have an email address.”

“By using an Optional instead of a null pointer, the developer explicitly signals that the return value might be empty, reducing runtime errors.”