Meaning & use
postural
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nountechnicalmedical
Relating to the way a person holds their body when sitting, standing or moving.
Grammar: Used before a noun: postural habits, not 'his habits are postural'.
Patterns
- postural problems
- postural control
Long hours at a desk can cause postural problems in the neck and back.
The physiotherapist gave her postural exercises to strengthen her spine.
Older adults may lose postural control and fall more easily.
adjectivebefore a nounmedical
Relating to the position of the body in a given moment, such as lying or standing, in medicine.
Grammar: Appears in medical terms like postural hypotension, a drop in blood pressure when standing.
Patterns
- postural hypotension
Postural hypotension made him dizzy whenever he stood up quickly.
The nurse checked postural changes in her blood pressure.
Postural drainage helps clear mucus from the lungs.
Common combinations
- postural problems
- Postural problems are common among people who use laptops.
- postural muscles
- Yoga strengthens the postural muscles of the back.
- postural control
- Balance training improves postural control.
- postural hypotension
- Postural hypotension can cause fainting.
- postural support
- A good chair offers postural support during long work hours.
Synonyms and how they differ
- body-position
- Body-position is plain language for the same idea, while postural is the specialized term.
- stance-related
- Stance-related is rare and refers mostly to standing, while postural covers sitting and moving too.
- ergonomic
- Ergonomic is about designing equipment to fit the body, whereas postural is about how the body is held.
Word family
Commonly confused: postural or postal?
postural vs postal
Postal relates to the mail service. Postural relates to body position.
Practice
The therapist recommended ___ exercises to fix her slouching.
Choose one answer.
Postural exercises improve how you hold your body. Postal means about mail and pastoral relates to rural life or caring for others.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “postural”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.