California

[kal-uh-fawrn-yuh, -fawr-nee-uh] / ˌkæl əˈfɔrn yə, -ˈfɔr ni ə /

NOUN

u.s. state

Synonyms

WEAK

Bear Flag State Cal El Dorado Gold Coast Gold Rush State Golden Bear State Golden Poppy State Golden State La La Land Sunkist State

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

University of Southern California education professor Patricia Burch questioned giving major funding to companies whose programs haven’t undergone evidence-based scrutiny.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine are now exploring that possibility.

From Science Daily • Apr. 22, 2026

California Deputy Solicitor Gen. Mica Moore urged the court to consider the danger Californians faced from unidentified, masked agents wielding military-grade weapons in the streets.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

Since then, California, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Utah have successfully voted to change their districts.

From Salon • Apr. 22, 2026

They hired a PhD student from the statistics department at the University of California at Berkeley to help them, but he quit after they asked him to study the market for pork belly futures.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis