English Explanatory Dictionary

optional

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Not compulsory; left to personal choice; elective.
noun
  1. Something that is not compulsory, especially part of an academic course.
  2. In various programming languages, a kind of variable that is assigned a specific data type but may or may not hold an actual value.

Pronunciation

/ˈɒp.ʃə.nəl/ /ˈɑp.ʃə.nəl/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-optional.wav

Word forms

optional optionals

Etymology

From option + -al.

Synonyms

facultative discretionary elective free noncompulsory nonmandatory nonobligate nonobligatory nonrequired nonrequisite optional optionary unrequired volitional voluntary

Antonyms

non-optional nonoptional compulsory mandatory obligate obligatory required requisite necessary binding compulsatory decretory forced imperative involuntary unbewised unvoluntary

Related words

option optionality optionally acquiescent

Derived words

clothing optional optionalize unoptional
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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