Meaning & use
filial
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivebefore a nounformal
Relating to the duties or feelings a child has toward their parents.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: filial duty, not 'the duty is filial'.
Patterns
- filial duty
- filial piety
Out of filial duty, she moved home to care for her father.
In many cultures, filial respect is highly valued.
His filial devotion was clear from his daily visits.
Common combinations
- filial duty
- He felt a filial duty to help.
- filial piety
- Filial piety is central to the tradition.
- filial love
- Their filial love was unmistakable.
- filial respect
- She showed filial respect to her mother.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dutiful
- Dutiful describes anyone who does what is expected, not only children toward parents.
- devoted
- Devoted emphasizes loving commitment and can apply to any relationship.
Opposites
Word family
- filially adverb
- in the manner of a dutiful child
Commonly confused: filial or familial?
filial vs familial
Familial means relating to a family in general; filial specifically relates to a child's attitude to a parent.
Practice
Out of ___ duty, Lena drove her mother to every appointment.
Choose one answer.
Filial duty is what a child owes a parent. Parental would be a parent's duty, fraternal relates to brothers, and familial is too general.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “filial”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.