Practical \Prac"ti*cal\, a. [L. practicus active, Gr. ? fit for doing or performing, practical, active, fr. ? to do, work, effect: cf. F. pratique, formerly also practique. Cf. Pragmatic, Practice.]

1. Of or pertaining to practice or action. [1913 Webster]

2. Capable of being turned to use or account; useful, in distinction from ideal or theoretical; as, practical chemistry. "Man's practical understanding." --South. "For all practical purposes." --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]

3. Evincing practice or skill; capable of applying knowledge to some useful end; as, a practical man; a practical mind. [1913 Webster]

4. Derived from practice; as, practical skill. [1913 Webster]

Practical joke, a joke put in practice; a joke the fun of which consists in something done, in distinction from something said; esp., a trick played upon a person. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

147 Moby Thesaurus words for "practical": achievable, actable, adaptable, advantageous, appliable, applicable, applied, appropriate, attainable, balanced, banausic, beneficial, breadwinning, businesslike, commercial, commodious, commonsense, compassable, compliant, constructive, convenient, cool, coolheaded, doable, down-to-earth, ductile, earthy, effective, effectual, efficacious, efficient, empirical, employable, everyday, expedient, exploitable, feasible, field, fitting, flexible, foolproof, functional, go, good for, handy, hard, hard-boiled, hard-nosed, hardheaded, helpful, hoaxproof, judicious, levelheaded, logical, malleable, manageable, maneuverable, manipulable, manipulatable, materialistic, matter-of-fact, moneymaking, mundane, negotiable, not born yesterday, of general utility, of help, of service, of use, old, old-time, operable, operatable, operational, operative, ordinary, overcomable, performable, personal, philosophical, pliable, pliant, positivistic, practicable, practical-minded, practiced, pragmatic, pragmatical, proper, prosaic, rational, realist, realistic, realizable, reasonable, reusable, sane, scientific, scientistic, seasoned, secular, sensible, serviceable, skilled, sober, sober-minded, sophisticated, sound, sound-thinking, straight-thinking, superable, surmountable, tough-minded, tractable, uncullible, undeceivable, undeludable, undupable, unfoolable, ungullible, unhoaxable, unideal, unidealistic, unromantic, unseduceable, unsentimental, untroublesome, usable, useable, useful, utilitarian, utilizable, versed, vet, veteran, viable, virtual, well-balanced, wieldable, wieldy, wise, workable, workaday, workday, working, worldly, yielding

Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

practical adj
1: concerned with actual use or practice; "he is a very practical person"; "the idea had no practical application"; "a practical knowledge of Japanese"; "woodworking is a practical art" [ant: impractical]
2: guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory; "a hardheaded appraisal of our position"; "a hard-nosed labor leader"; "completely practical in his approach to business"; "not ideology but pragmatic politics" [syn: hardheaded, hard-nosed, pragmatic]
3: being actually such in almost every respect; "a practical failure"; "the once elegant temple lay in virtual ruin" [syn: virtual(a), practical(a)]
4: having or put to a practical purpose or use; "practical mathematics"; "practical applications of calculus"

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

Practical \Prac"ti*cal\, a. [L. practicus active, Gr. ? fit for doing or performing, practical, active, fr. ? to do, work, effect: cf. F. pratique, formerly also practique. Cf. Pragmatic, Practice.]

1. Of or pertaining to practice or action.

2. Capable of being turned to use or account; useful, in distinction from ideal or theoretical; as, practical chemistry. ``Man's practical understanding.'' --South. ``For all practical purposes.'' --Macaulay.

3. Evincing practice or skill; capable of applying knowledge to some useful end; as, a practical man; a practical mind.

4. Derived from practice; as, practical skill.

Practical joke, a joke put in practice; a joke the fun of which consists in something done, in distinction from something said; esp., a trick played upon a person.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)