Meaning & use
racially
Last updated
Meaning
adverbnot comparable
In a way that concerns a person's race or that is based on racial groups.
Grammar: Modifies an adjective or participle: racially mixed, racially motivated.
Patterns
- racially + adjective
The school is racially diverse, with pupils from many backgrounds.
Police said the attack was racially motivated.
The neighborhood was racially segregated for decades.
Common combinations
- racially motivated
- The court heard that the crime was racially motivated.
- racially diverse
- They moved to a racially diverse city.
- racially mixed
- It is a racially mixed class.
- racially biased
- The study found that the algorithm was racially biased.
- racially charged
- The comment sparked a racially charged debate.
- racially segregated
- Schools in the town were once racially segregated.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ethnically
- Ethnically stresses shared culture, language or ancestry, whereas racially refers to groupings by physical traits or the way society classes people.
Word family
- race noun
- a group of people classed together by physical traits
- racial adjective
- relating to race
- racism noun
- unfair treatment based on race
- interracial adjective
- between people of different races
Commonly confused: racially or racial?
racially vs racial
Racial is the adjective that describes nouns, such as racial equality, while racially is the adverb that describes adjectives and verbs, such as racially diverse.
Practice
The report described the attack as ___ motivated.
Choose one answer.
An adverb is needed to modify the participle motivated, so racially is correct. Racial is an adjective and would not fit before motivated.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “racially”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.