maternal

adjective/məˈtɜrnəl/

Frequency rank: #5,563 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)

Meaning

relating to or characteristic of a mother; motherly.

Illustration for the English word “maternal”

Example sentence

She showed maternal instincts as soon as she held the newborn baby.

Synonyms & related words

More words in ranks 5,501–5,600