Exhibiting the qualities, traits, or characteristics that identify a kind, class, group, or category: a typical suburban community. 2. Of or relating to a representative specimen; characteristic or distinctive. 3. Conforming to a type: a composition typical of the baroque period. TYPICAL definition: of the nature of or serving as a type or representative specimen. See examples of typical used in a sentence. When something is typical, it is common, regular, expected — hanging out with friends and playing computer games are typical activities of American teens. typical implies showing all important traits of a type, class, or group and may suggest lack of strong individuality. Definition of typical adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. TYPICAL definition: 1. showing all the characteristics that you would usually expect from a particular group of things…. Learn more. If a particular action or feature is typical of someone or something, it shows their usual qualities or characteristics.