postal

postal — adjective

1. connected with letters and parcels, the service that carries them, or items sent

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

connected with letters and parcels, the service that carries them, or items sent that way

Example

Many mountain villages still depend on the postal service for medicine.

collocation: postal service

Postal workers delivered exam papers before the typhoon reached Tainan.

collocation: postal workers

Common collocations
  • postal service
  • postal worker
  • postal address
  • postal delivery
  • postal application
Synonyms
  • mail

    is the closest everyday alternative, especially in American English, and is common before nouns

  • post-office

    is narrower and usually points more directly to the office or its official services

  • mailed

    only describes something that has already been sent, not the whole system

Grammar Patterns

postal service

postal worker

postal address

postal application

Usage Note

Usually comes before nouns such as service, worker, address, vote, and application. In everyday American English, mail is often more common in casual compounds, but postal is the standard word for the official system.

Common Mistakes

I sent a postal to my aunt.
I sent a letter to my aunt by post.
postal is an adjective, not a noun for the thing you send.
Idioms

go postal

idiom

To become extremely angry and lose control of your behavior.

Mia went postal when someone scratched her new car.

Did you see Brian go postal after losing the game?

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Postal is the standard adjective for the official system that carries letters and parcels. Mail is the nearest everyday alternative, especially in American English, and it often appears in common compounds. Post-office is narrower: it usually points to the building or services directly tied to that office. Mailed is different again, because it describes something that has already been sent, not the whole system. Postal works well in practical phrases such as postal address, postal vote, and postal service. You can say Please confirm your postal address, but Please confirm your mailed address sounds wrong. For a sent item, say the mailed package or simply the package we sent.

mail ↗post-officemailed

Common collocations

Nouns

  • postal service
  • postal worker
  • postal address
  • postal delivery
  • postal vote

Phrases

  • postal service delay
  • postal delivery problem

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Postal is built from post, meaning the system for carrying letters, plus the adjective ending -al. English took post through French, and the older history goes back to Latin words connected with stopping places on travel routes, which later became linked with carrying messages.