Meaning & use
parochial
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Meanings
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Interested only in local matters and unwilling to consider wider ideas or other people's viewpoints.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a parochial attitude, his views are parochial.
Patterns
- a parochial attitude
- parochial in outlook
The council's parochial attitude kept it from joining the regional plan.
She found the town's parochial gossip tiring after living abroad.
His parochial view of the world made him distrust anything unfamiliar.
adjectivebefore a nounreligion
Relating to a church parish, its members or its affairs.
Grammar: Used before a noun: a parochial church council.
Patterns
- parochial school
- parochial church council
The parochial school sits beside the old stone church.
A parochial council meets monthly to plan the parish budget.
He kept the parochial records in a locked cupboard.
Word forms
| comparative | more parochial |
|---|---|
| superlative | most parochial |
Common combinations
- parochial attitude
- A parochial attitude held the village back.
- parochial interests
- Politicians often put parochial interests ahead of national needs.
- parochial school
- She went to a parochial school until she was twelve.
- parochial outlook
- Travel can widen a parochial outlook.
- deeply parochial
- The debate felt deeply parochial to outsiders.
Synonyms and how they differ
- insular
- Insular stresses being cut off from outside influence, while parochial stresses a narrow focus on local concerns.
- narrow-minded
- Narrow-minded is a blunt personal criticism, whereas parochial usually describes a limited local viewpoint.
- provincial
- Provincial suggests unsophisticated country manners and can be a snobbish insult, while parochial points to small-scale thinking.
- small-town
- Small-town is informal and can be affectionate, while parochial is more formal and critical.
Opposites
Word family
- parochialism noun
- narrow, local-minded thinking
- parochially adverb
- in a narrow, local-minded way
- parish noun
- a local church district, the root of the word
- parishioner noun
- a member of a parish
Commonly confused: parochial or paternal?
parochial vs paternal
Paternal means fatherly or on the father's side; it has no link to narrow views or local interests.
Practice
The mayor's ______ focus on his own neighborhood meant the city's larger problems were ignored.
Choose one answer.
Parochial describes a narrow, local outlook. Cosmopolitan and global suggest the opposite, a broad outlook.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “parochial”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.