parliamentary
adjective
par·lia·men·ta·ry
ˌpär-lə-ˈmen-t(ə-)rē 
also ˌpärl-yə-
1
a
: of or relating to a parliament
parliamentary elections
parliamentary debate
b
: enacted, done, or ratified by a parliament
a parliamentary grant of money
2
: of or adhering to the parliament as opposed to the king during the English Civil War
… rendered the parliamentary armies … victorious.—
David Hume
David Hume3
: of, based on, or having the characteristics of parliamentary government
parliamentary democracy
4
: of or relating to members of a parliament
have the leader selected by the parliamentary caucus—London Times
London Times5
: of or according to parliamentary law
parliamentary procedure
Examples of parliamentary in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Since Hamas took over Gaza after winning parliamentary elections in 2006, it has been engaged in at least four separate, relatively brief direct conflicts with Israel.
—Karen Deyoung, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2024
Parliamentary Elections: Iranians delivered a stinging rebuke to the country’s ruling conservatives in the parliamentary election on March 1, as millions boycotted the vote and a far-right faction made striking gains.
—Ronen Bergman, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2024
Israel has yet to comment on the attack, though the country’s defense minister appeared to obliquely reference the strike during a parliamentary meeting yesterday.
—Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 3 Apr. 2024
Instead, the void should be filled through an indirect parliamentary election — impossible right now because there is no Parliament.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2024
One parliamentary candidate even made retaining Les Grands Buffets part of his platform.
—Lauren Collins, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
Our fact-check sources: NBC News, May 11, 2017, Watch Lester Holt’s Extended Interview With President Trump
Associated Press, Dec. 23, 2023, Pakistan election officials reject former prime minister Khan’s candidacy in parliamentary election
Thank you for supporting our journalism.
—Brieanna J. Frank, USA TODAY, 30 Mar. 2024
Its professional military force had 155,000 members in June 2023, according to a parliamentary report, a substantial decline from 165,000 just two years ago and the lowest figure since 2018.
—Eric Cheung, CNN, 30 Mar. 2024
Without Shin Godzilla’s cynical sense of humor, the film’s many parliamentary scenes play out like sci-fi C-SPAN, rehashing the common Cold War theme of the U.S. and U.S.S.R. playing atomic football with Japan caught in the middle.
—Katie Rife, EW.com, 28 Mar. 2024
Karen Deyoung, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2024
Parliamentary Elections: Iranians delivered a stinging rebuke to the country’s ruling conservatives in the parliamentary election on March 1, as millions boycotted the vote and a far-right faction made striking gains.
—Ronen Bergman, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2024
Israel has yet to comment on the attack, though the country’s defense minister appeared to obliquely reference the strike during a parliamentary meeting yesterday.
—Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 3 Apr. 2024
Instead, the void should be filled through an indirect parliamentary election — impossible right now because there is no Parliament.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2024
One parliamentary candidate even made retaining Les Grands Buffets part of his platform.
—Lauren Collins, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
Our fact-check sources: NBC News, May 11, 2017, Watch Lester Holt’s Extended Interview With President Trump
Associated Press, Dec. 23, 2023, Pakistan election officials reject former prime minister Khan’s candidacy in parliamentary election
Thank you for supporting our journalism.
—Brieanna J. Frank, USA TODAY, 30 Mar. 2024
Its professional military force had 155,000 members in June 2023, according to a parliamentary report, a substantial decline from 165,000 just two years ago and the lowest figure since 2018.
—Eric Cheung, CNN, 30 Mar. 2024
Without Shin Godzilla’s cynical sense of humor, the film’s many parliamentary scenes play out like sci-fi C-SPAN, rehashing the common Cold War theme of the U.S. and U.S.S.R. playing atomic football with Japan caught in the middle.
—Katie Rife, EW.com, 28 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'parliamentary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near parliamentary
Cite this Entry
“Parliamentary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parliamentary. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
parliamentary
adjective
par·lia·men·ta·ry
ˌpär-lə-ˈment-ə-rē
-ˈmen-trē,
also ˌpärl-yə-
1
: of, relating to, or enacted by a parliament
2
: of or relating to government by a cabinet whose members belong to and are responsible to the legislature
3
: of or according to the rules governing the way in which official meetings (as of a parliament or congress) are conducted
parliamentary procedure
Legal Definition
parliamentary
adjective
par·lia·men·ta·ry
ˌpär-lə-ˈmen-tə-rē, ˌpärl-yə-
1
a
: of or relating to a parliament
b
: enacted, done, or ratified by a parliament
2
: of, based on, or having the characteristics of parliamentary government
3
: of or relating to the members of a parliament
4
: of or according to parliamentary law
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