sociais

Sociais is the plural form of the Portuguese adjective meaning "social." It is used to describe nouns related to society or the social sphere and appears in numerous collocations across government, academia, media, and everyday language. The form social is invariable for gender in standard Portuguese, so the masculine and feminine plural is sociais.

In use, sociais commonly follows the noun it describes, as in problemas sociais (social problems), classes sociais (social classes), políticas sociais (social policies), and ciências sociais (social sciences). It also appears in phrases about institutions or services connected to society, such as assistência social (social assistance) and serviços sociais (social services). The term is also found in discussions of modern communication, with redes sociais for social networks.

Etymology and related terms: sociais derives from Latin socialis, via the Romance-language family, and is closely related to other terms in the sociopolitical and academic lexicon, such as sociologia (sociology), sociedade (society), and política social (social policy). While social networks are commonly referred to as redes sociais, the word remains primarily an adjective, not a stand-alone noun, and is typically paired with a noun to specify the social domain or issue being described.

Usage notes: sociais is widely used in formal and neutral contexts, including journalism, policy analysis, and scholarly writing. It is distinct from other descriptors like econômicos (economic) or políticos (political), which are used to categorize issues outside the social domain. In common discourse, it can refer to broad areas (e.g., questões sociais) or to specific programs and studies within the social sphere.