seasonal

seasonal — adjective

1. happening, produced, or used only during particular periods of the year, for exa

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

happening, produced, or used only during particular periods of the year, for example a holiday time or a specific type of weather.

Example

The beach café on Elm Street hires extra staff during the seasonal summer rush.

collocation: seasonal + noun describing annual event

Mira's cough is seasonal and always gets worse when the cherry trees bloom.

pattern: be + seasonal

Common collocations
  • seasonal work
  • seasonal workers
  • seasonal fruits
  • seasonal allergies
  • seasonal depression
  • highly seasonal
  • strictly seasonal
Synonyms
  • periodic

    broader — happens at regular intervals, not necessarily tied to weather or calendar seasons

  • cyclical

    more formal; describes events that repeat in a cycle, which may or may not follow the four seasons

  • annual

    narrower — happens once a year, whereas seasonal can apply to shorter periods like winter or summer

Antonyms
  • year-round

    available or happening throughout the entire year, not limited to one season

  • constant

    unchanging across months or seasons, opposite of varying with the time of year

Grammar Patterns

seasonal + noun

be + seasonal

Usage Note

Often used before a noun (seasonal work, seasonal depression) and also after be (The demand for ice cream is seasonal).

Common Mistakes

The fruits are seasonable.
The fruits are seasonal.
seasonable means suitable for the time of year, while seasonal means happening or available at a particular time of year.

Word family

  • season
    nounA1
  • season
    verbB1
  • seasoning
    nounB1
  • seasonally
    adverbB2
  • unseasonal
    adjectiveB2
  • seasonable
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Seasonal, periodic, cyclical, and annual all describe events that happen more than once, but they differ in timing and scope. Seasonal ties specifically to the natural or calendar seasons — winter, spring, summer, autumn — or to holiday periods tied to them (e.g. a seasonal allergy flares up every spring). Periodic is broader: anything that recurs at regular intervals, whether daily, monthly, or every seven years, is periodic. Cyclical emphasises a repeating loop, often with a clear end and restart (a cyclical economic boom-and-bust). Annual is the narrowest, meaning exactly once per year. For instance: 'The cherry blossoms are a seasonal attraction in spring'; 'The machine requires periodic maintenance every six weeks'; 'The company went through a cyclical downturn'; 'The annual awards ceremony takes place in December.'

seasonal ↗periodic ↗cyclicalannual ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • seasonal affective disorder
  • seasonal depression
  • seasonal adjustment

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Seasonal is formed from the noun season (meaning a division of the year) plus the suffix -al, which turns a noun into an adjective meaning 'of or relating to'. Season itself traces back through Old French seson to Latin satio, which meant 'the act of sowing' or 'planting time' — the original seasons were defined by agricultural cycles.