optional
Plural: optionals
Adjective
- possible but not necessary; left to personal choice
Adj
- Not compulsory; left to personal choice; elective.
Noun
- An elective course of study that is not compulsory.
- Something that is not compulsory, especially part of an academic course.
- In various programming languages, a kind of variable that is assigned a specific data type but may or may not hold an actual value.
Examples
- In Scrabble, playing defensively is optional, but often a winning strategy.
- On that beach clothing is entirely optional.
Origin / Etymology
From option + -al.
Synonyms
discretionary, elective, facultative, free, noncompulsory, nonmandatory, nonobligate, nonobligatory, nonrequired, nonrequisite, optional, optionary, unrequired, volitional, voluntary
Antonyms
obligatory, compulsory, mandatory, necessary, non-optional, nonoptional, obligate, optional, required, requisite
Scrabble Score: 10
optional: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordoptional: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
optional: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary