invitational
invitational — noun
- invitationalsingular
- invitationalsplural
1. A competition or gathering, especially in sports, that is open only to people wh
A competition or gathering, especially in sports, that is open only to people who have received a personal invitation.
The school chess team practiced every afternoon for the state invitational in March.
invitational as countable noun, often preceded by adjective
Folake trained every day for six weeks before the local swimming invitational.
Only the top five schools were asked to play in the debate invitational.
The invitational brought together young runners from twelve different countries.
Arjun's coach told him he had been chosen for the junior tennis invitational.
- tournament
more general; a tournament may be open or invitational
- invitational event
more explicit, but less common as a single-word noun
- closed competition
emphasises the restriction on entry
- open tournament
anyone can enter, unlike an invitational
用法筆記
Often used as part of a compound noun with the sport or activity named first (e.g., golf invitational, chess invitational, tennis invitational).
常見錯誤
invitational — adjective
- invitationalpositive
- more invitationalcomparative
- most invitationalsuperlative
1. Describes an event, competition, or gathering that is restricted to people who h
Describes an event, competition, or gathering that is restricted to people who have received a formal invitation.
The invitational games were open only to the best players in the area.
attributive adjective: invitational + noun
Joaquín got a letter about his place on the invitational art programme.
Henrik practiced every day before the invitational competition in June.
Yara was happy to play at the invitational music festival in Vienna.
- by invitation only
phrasal equivalent, more common in everyday language
- closed
simpler, but broader in meaning
- invite-only
informal, common in modern usage
用法筆記
Almost always placed before the noun (attributive use). You would not say 'The tournament was invitational' in natural English — use 'by invitation only' instead.
常見錯誤
2. Created, submitted, or joined because someone else specifically asked for it.
Created, submitted, or joined because someone else specifically asked for it.
The artist created an invitational piece for the gallery show last month.
collocation: invitational piece / invitational essay
Esme sent in an invitational essay for the school writing journal.
The group read each invitational entry before making their choice.
Tariro wrote an invitational piece for the school paper after being asked.
- solicited
more formal; means 'asked for by someone'
- commissioned
implies payment or official request, narrower than invitational
- requested
simpler but less specific to formal submissions
- unsolicited
submitted without being asked; opposite of invitational in this sense
用法筆記
Rare in everyday conversation; most often found in formal contexts such as academic journals, art catalogues, or conference proceedings.