Meaning & use
palatial
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Meaning
adjectivecomparableapproving
Very large, grand and richly decorated, in the manner of a royal palace.
Grammar: Goes before a noun or after be: a palatial home, the hotel was palatial.
Patterns
- a palatial house
- palatial surroundings
The couple lived in a palatial villa overlooking the bay.
Guests were stunned by the palatial lobby with its marble columns.
Her office was palatial compared with the cramped room she once shared.
Word forms
| comparative | more palatial |
|---|---|
| superlative | most palatial |
Common combinations
- palatial home
- They bought a palatial home on the hillside.
- palatial hotel
- The palatial hotel had three ballrooms.
- palatial surroundings
- The meeting took place in palatial surroundings.
- palatial proportions
- The ballroom was of palatial proportions.
- palatial estate
- The singer bought a palatial estate in the country.
Synonyms and how they differ
- grand
- Grand is more general and can describe anything impressive, while palatial specifically compares a building to a palace.
- opulent
- Opulent stresses rich decoration and wealth, and it need not mean large.
- luxurious
- Luxurious is about comfort and expense and does not require great size, unlike palatial.
- stately
- Stately suggests dignified, formal beauty, whereas palatial emphasizes huge, lavish space.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: palatial or palatable? palatial or palatal?
palatial vs palatable
Palatable means pleasant to taste or acceptable, whereas palatial means grand like a palace.
palatial vs palatal
Palatal relates to the roof of the mouth and has nothing to do with palaces.
Practice
The family moved from a tiny flat to a ____ mansion with twenty rooms.
Choose one answer.
Palatial describes something grand and palace-like. Palatable means tasty or acceptable, and palpable means obvious, so neither fits a mansion.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “palatial”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.