transitional

adjective

tran·​si·​tion·​al tran(t)-ˈsi-sh(ə-)nəl 

tran(t)-ˈsi-zh(ə-)nəl, 

tran-ˈzi-sh(ə-)nəl 

: marked by transition : involving, providing, or consisting of a passage, movement, or change from one state, condition, subject, place, etc., to another

a transitional passage in music

They are often transitional areas between water environments and dry land, and are populated by many trees and plants that can put up with the occasional flood …

—JoAnn Shroyer

The social worlds of neighborhood and village are now less important as transitional zones between home and nonhome settings.

—Theano S. Terkenli

… turning into a civilian coup, that … established a transitional government and prepared the way for multi-party elections.

—Larry Diamond

… an animal about the size of a turkey that they contend was a flightless bird, a transitional figure between some carnivorous dinosaurs and modern birds.

—John Noble Wilford

transitionally adverb

The problem then is to structure a sequence of reforms that is politically consistent with the social mores of the Soviet Union, economically coherent, and transitionally sound …

—Edgar L. Feige

Examples of transitional in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

At least one-third of this year’s guests worked toward finding housing, according to Seiss, including those seeking work, gaining access to transitional housing or getting a spot at a full-time shelter. —Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 29 Apr. 2026

Research projects and programs in developing and transitional countries fall under the rubric of media development. —Marlen Bartsch, Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Apr. 2026

On homelessness, McCann took ownership of the city’s current strategy, citing the creation of the Homeless Outreach Team, the opening of a transitional shelter called the Chula Vista Village at Otay and the encampment ban as products of his leadership. —Walker Armstrong, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Apr. 2026

In 2023, Harris spoke with KTVU about his life for a piece about the transitional housing program, talking frankly about his history with heroin addiction and how the opportunity for housing has been a life changer. —Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 25 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1819, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for transitional

• additional
• conditional
• nutritional
• positional
• traditional
• volitional
• compositional
• definitional
• depositional
• dispositional
• intuitional
• nontraditional

Medical Definition

transitional

adjective

tran·​si·​tion·​al

-ˈish-nəl, -ˈizh-ən-ᵊl

1

: of, relating to, or characterized by transition

2

: of, relating to, or being epithelium (as in the urinary bladder) that consists of several layers of soft cuboidal cells which become flattened when stretched (as when the bladder is distended)