adj

nasal

NAY-zuhl

adj

Relating to the nose.

"The doctor prescribed a nasal spray for her blocked sinuses."

"He suffered a nasal injury after being hit by the ball."

Describing a sound made by letting air pass through the nose, as with the consonants "m," "n," and "ng."

"French has several nasal vowels that don't exist in English."

"The letter 'n' represents a nasal sound in most languages."

Of a voice: sounding as if it comes through the nose, often thought of as whiny or twangy.

"His nasal voice made him easy to pick out on the recording."

How to Use Nasal

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishTo do with the nose — whether it's a body part, a spray, or the sound of a voice that seems to come through the nostrils.

Common pairings

nasal spray nasal passage nasal voice nasal congestion

more nasal comparative, most nasal superlative

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The doctor prescribed a _____ spray for her blocked sinuses.

From Medieval Latin nasalis, built from nasus, "nose," plus the adjective ending "-alis."

basal