Meaning & use
clinical
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounmedical
Connected with the examination and treatment of patients, as opposed to laboratory study or theory.
Grammar: Almost always used before a noun, such as clinical trial or clinical practice.
Patterns
- a clinical trial
- clinical experience
The drug is in clinical trials with patients.
She has ten years of clinical experience.
A clinical psychologist treated him.
adjectivecomparabledisapprovingfigurative
Showing no emotion, calm and objective, sometimes in a way that seems cold.
Grammar: Used about a person's manner or a description; often implies lack of warmth.
Patterns
- clinical about something
He gave a clinical account of the accident, without a hint of feeling.
Her reply was cool and clinical.
The report takes a clinical approach to a painful subject.
adjectivecomparablefigurative
Plain, bare and very clean, like a hospital room.
Grammar: Describes rooms and designs that seem sterile and unwelcoming.
Patterns
- a clinical room
The apartment was white and clinical.
The office had a clinical, cold feel.
They disliked the clinical look of the kitchen.
Common combinations
- clinical trial
- The new vaccine is in a clinical trial.
- clinical depression
- A doctor diagnosed clinical depression.
- clinical detachment
- She spoke with clinical detachment.
- clinical study
- A clinical study involved 400 patients.
- clinical psychologist
- He works as a clinical psychologist.
Synonyms and how they differ
- detached
- Detached means emotionally uninvolved and is not necessarily cold or medical.
- impersonal
- Impersonal suggests a lack of personal warmth, such as a form letter, rather than medical coolness.
- sterile
- Sterile means free of germs or unimaginative, and it is stronger than clinical for describing bare places.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: clinical or clinic?
clinical vs clinic
Clinic is the noun for the place; clinical is the adjective describing things connected with patient care.
Practice
The doctor described the diagnosis in a very ___ way, with no sympathy at all.
Choose one answer.
Clinical is the adjective meaning coldly objective. Emotional means the opposite, clinic is a noun, and clinically is an adverb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “clinical”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.