Meaning & use
structured
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Arranged in a planned, orderly way with clear parts and rules.
Grammar: Goes before a noun or after be: a structured course, or The day is well structured.
Patterns
- highly structured
- loosely structured
The school offers a structured reading program for beginners.
She prefers a structured day with clear deadlines.
The interview was tightly structured, with the same questions for every candidate.
adjectivebefore a noun
Made with stiff shaping or support so that it holds its form, used of clothes and bags.
Grammar: Describes garments and accessories: a structured jacket.
She wore a structured blazer with padded shoulders.
A structured handbag keeps its shape even when empty.
adjectivebefore a nouncomputingtechnical
Organized into fixed fields so that a computer can search and sort it easily, used of data.
Grammar: Used with data and queries: structured data sits in tables.
Spreadsheets store structured data in rows and columns.
Structured query language is used to search databases.
Emails are harder to analyze than structured records.
Common combinations
- highly structured
- The training is highly structured and runs on a strict timetable.
- well structured
- Her essay was well structured and easy to follow.
- structured approach
- A structured approach helped them solve the problem quickly.
- structured data
- The tool converts messy text into structured data.
- structured environment
- Some children thrive in a structured environment.
Synonyms and how they differ
- organized
- Organized can describe a person as well as a plan, while structured usually describes a system, activity, or document.
- systematic
- Systematic stresses following a method step by step, whereas structured stresses the framework or parts in which something is arranged.
- formal
- Formal suggests official rules or serious tone, but structured only means there is a deliberate pattern, which can be quite relaxed.
- orderly
- Orderly emphasizes neatness and calm arrangement, while structured emphasizes a deliberate design.
Opposites
Word family
- structure noun
- the way parts are arranged, or a built thing
- structure verb
- to arrange something in an organized way
- structural adjective
- relating to the structure of something
- unstructured adjective
- lacking a clear plan or organization
- restructure verb
- to organize something in a new way
Commonly confused: structured or constructed?
structured vs constructed
Constructed means built or put together; structured means arranged according to a plan. A bridge is constructed, but a lesson is structured.
Practice
The workshop was so ___ that every ten-minute segment had a stated goal and a time limit.
Choose one answer.
Structured means carefully planned with defined parts. Spontaneous, casual, and random all describe the opposite: unplanned or loose.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “structured”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.