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.

The outage affected major institutions including Columbia University, Princeton University, Rutgers University and the University of California network, according to reporting from multiple university statements.

From Salon • May 9, 2026

They are native to northern Mexico and California, and they are especially important in California.

From Science Daily • May 9, 2026

Clairisa Mattig-Smith thought she and her kids would have to move out of California due to the high cost of living.

From MarketWatch • May 9, 2026

Since the January 2025 fire siege, roughly 20% of surviving street trees have gone missing, according to preliminary results from a University of California research team.

From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026

FrontPoint and Cornwall were both missing from the piece, but the investor most conspicuously absent from the Bloomberg News article sat alone in his office, in Cupertino, California.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis