Meaning & use
dynastic
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Connected with a dynasty, which is a line of rulers or powerful people from one family.
Grammar: Almost always comes before a noun: dynastic rule, a dynastic marriage.
The kingdom was shaken by a long dynastic struggle after the king died.
Historians study dynastic rule in ancient China.
A dynastic marriage joined the two royal houses.
adjectivenot comparable
Describing power or business control passed down through one family over many years.
Grammar: Used for modern families too, usually before a noun: dynastic wealth, dynastic politics.
Critics complained about dynastic politics when yet another cousin ran for office.
The company has a dynastic tradition, with each generation leading the firm.
She grew tired of the dynastic wealth that dominated the town.
Common combinations
- dynastic rule
- Dynastic rule lasted nearly three hundred years.
- dynastic succession
- Dynastic succession passed the crown from father to son.
- a dynastic marriage
- A dynastic marriage was arranged to end the war.
- dynastic politics
- Dynastic politics can limit new voices in government.
- dynastic ambitions
- The duke's dynastic ambitions led him to plot against the king.
- a dynastic struggle
- A dynastic struggle followed the emperor's death.
Synonyms and how they differ
- royal
- Royal describes anything connected with a king or queen, and it need not involve family continuity the way dynastic does.
- hereditary
- Hereditary means passed down by birth, such as a title or a trait, while dynastic is specifically about a line of rulers or a powerful family.
- imperial
- Imperial relates to an emperor or an empire, whereas dynastic relates to the ruling family, whatever the size of the realm.
- ancestral
- Ancestral refers to forebears in general, such as an ancestral home, and does not suggest rulers or power the way dynastic does.
Opposites
Word family
- dynasty noun
- a series of rulers or powerful people from the same family
- dynast noun
- a member of a ruling family
- dynastically adverb
- in a way that relates to ruling families
- dynasties noun
- plural of dynasty
Commonly confused: dynastic or dynamic?
dynastic vs dynamic
Dynamic means full of energy or constantly changing, and it shares the look of dynastic. Only dynastic relates to ruling families.
Practice
The two kingdoms were united through a ___ marriage arranged between the ruling families.
Choose one answer.
A dynastic marriage joins ruling families. Dynamic means energetic, dramatic means striking, and democratic means based on voting by the people.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dynastic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.