Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Definitions

paternal

[puh-tur-nl] / pəˈtɜr nl /


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.

See Examples For:

And then there was the photograph that sat on his grandmother’s desk and eventually came to sit on his own, a professional portrait of his paternal grandfather.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 17, 2026

But an 1889 imperial house law stipulated that only men could become emperor, and only through the paternal line.

From Barron's Jul. 17, 2026

The expanded dataset also allowed researchers to reconstruct, for the first time, how both maternal and paternal care evolved within the superfamily Gonyleptoidea.

From Science Daily Jul. 12, 2026

His paternal grandfather Mate immigrated from the former Yugoslavia in search of opportunity and was later naturalized as a U.S. citizen.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 4, 2026

Because of his late-arriving but intense paternal sense, I was introduced to the most colorful characters in the Black underground.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou




Vocabulary lists containing paternal


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training