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   Rad·i·cal

   /ˈradək(ə)l/

   

   adjective

   • 1. (especially of change or action) relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough: "a radical overhaul of the existing regulatory framework" Similar thoroughgoingthoroughcompletetotalentireabsoluteuttercomprehensiveexhaustiveroot-and-branchsweepingfar-reachingwide-rangingextensiveprofounddrasticsevereseriousmajordesperatestringentviolentforcefulrigorousdraconianOpposite superficial
   • ▪ forming an inherent or fundamental part of the nature of someone or something: "the assumption of radical differences between the mental attributes of literate and nonliterate peoples" Similar fundamentalbasicessentialquintessentialinherentinnatestructuraldeep-seatedintrinsicorganicconstitutiverootOpposite minor
   • ▪ (of surgery or medical treatment) thorough and intended to be completely curative.
   • 2. advocating or based on thorough or complete political or social change; representing or supporting an extreme or progressive section of a political party: "a radical activist" Similar revolutionaryprogressivereformingreformistprogressivistrevisionistleftistleft-wingsocialistanticapitalistextremistfanaticalmilitantdiehardinformal:wokeright-oninformal, derogatory:commieBolshevikleftyredpinkbolshieOpposite conservativereactionarymoderate
   • ▪ characterized by independence of or departure from tradition; innovative or unorthodox: "the daring, avant-garde spirit of the music was too radical for the conservative audience"
   • 3. denoting or relating to the roots of a word.
   • ▪ belonging to the root of a chord.
   • 4. of the root of a number or quantity.
   • 5. of, or springing direct from, the root or stem base of a plant.
   • 6. very good; excellent: informal North American "Okay, then. Seven o'clock. Radical!"

   noun

   • 1. a person who advocates thorough or complete political or social reform; a member of a political party or part of a party pursuing such aims.
   • 2. a group of atoms behaving as a unit in a number of compounds.
   • 3. the root or base form of a word.
   • ▪ any of the basic set of 214 Chinese characters constituting semantically or functionally significant elements in the composition of other characters and used as a means of classifying characters in dictionaries.
   • 4. a quantity forming or expressed as the root of another.
   • ▪ a radical sign.

   Word Origin late Middle English (in the senses ‘forming the root’ and ‘inherent’): from late Latin radicalis, from Latin radix, radic- ‘root’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. radicalness noun

   Scrabble Points: 10

   • R

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   • A

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   • D

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   • I

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   • C

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   • A

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   • L

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