maternal

maternal — adjective

1. showing the kind, caring, and protective qualities that people typically associa

1.形容詞B2
釋義

showing the kind, caring, and protective qualities that people typically associate with how a mother treats her child

例句

Elena's maternal instincts kicked in when she saw the lost child crying at the station.

collocation: maternal instincts

The nurse spoke to the frightened patient with a gentle, maternal tone.

同義詞
  • motherly

    Warmer and more personal than maternal; can be used in almost any context where maternal (sense 1) fits

  • nurturing

    Focuses on helping someone grow and develop, often through teaching or feeding; less instinctive than maternal

  • protective

    Highlights the guarding aspect — keeping someone safe from harm — whereas maternal implies both protection and affection

  • caring

    Broader term that can apply to any relationship, not only a mother-child-like bond

文法句型

maternal + noun

be + maternal

用法筆記

Can describe men as well as women — this sense refers to qualities such as warmth and protectiveness, not to a person's gender or role as a mother.

常見錯誤

❌She has strong mother instincts.
✅She has strong maternal instincts.
💡The fixed collocation uses the adjective maternal, not the noun mother.

2. coming from or linked to your mother's own family, such as her parents, siblings

2.形容詞B1
釋義

coming from or linked to your mother's own family, such as her parents, siblings, or other blood relatives

例句

Kenji's maternal grandfather taught him how to carve birds out of wood.

collocation: maternal grandfather

Ayesha inherited her love of Indian cooking from her maternal grandmother.

collocation: maternal grandmother

同義詞
  • on my mother's side

    A descriptive phrase rather than a single-word synonym; used when maternal sounds too formal

反義詞
  • paternal

    Refers to the father's side of the family — the exact opposite relation

文法句型

maternal + family-member noun

用法筆記

Always used before a family-relation noun (attributive position). You can say maternal grandfather but not 'grandfather is maternal.' This sense only identifies which side of the family a relative belongs to — it does not describe their personality.

常見錯誤

❌My maternal father passed away last year.
✅My maternal grandfather passed away last year.
💡Maternal describes the mother's side, so it cannot modify 'father.' It only works with extended-family nouns like grandfather, grandmother, aunt, uncle, cousin.