adj
Meaning 1
Of, relating to, or providing a description.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
descriptive
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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UK: /dɪˈskɹɪptɪv/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: D IH0 S K R IH1 P T IH0 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Of an adjective, stating an attribute of the associated noun (as heavy in the heavy dictionary).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Describing the structure, grammar, vocabulary and actual use of a language.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Describing and seeking to classify, as opposed to normative or prescriptive.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: human-sciences, philosophy, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
An adjective (or other descriptive word)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
Meaning 6
describing the structure of a language
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- descriptive grammar
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: prescriptive
adjective
Meaning 7
serving to describe or inform or characterized by description
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the descriptive variable
- a descriptive passage
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: undescriptive
History
Etymology
From Latin dēscriptīvus (“containing a full description”).
Across languages
Translations
51 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Armenian: նկարագրական (nkaragrakan) — of, or relating to description
- Belarusian: апіса́льны (apisálʹny) — of, or relating to description
- Bulgarian: описателен (opisatelen) — of, or relating to description
- Bulgarian: нагледен (nagleden) — of, or relating to description
- Catalan: descriptiu — of, or relating to description
- Czech: popisný — of, or relating to description
- Danish: beskrivende — of, or relating to description
- Danish: deskriptiv — of, or relating to description
- Finnish: kuvaileva — of, or relating to description
- Finnish: esittelevä — of, or relating to description
- Finnish: toteava — of, or relating to description
- Finnish: deskriptiivinen — of, or relating to description
- Indonesian: deskriptif — of, or relating to description
- Ladino: deskriptivo — of, or relating to description
- Norwegian Bokmål: beskrivende — of, or relating to description
- Norwegian Bokmål: deskriptiv — of, or relating to description
- Norwegian Nynorsk: deskriptiv — of, or relating to description
- Polish: opisowy — of, or relating to description
- Portuguese: descritivo — of, or relating to description
- Romanian: descriptiv — of, or relating to description
- Russian: описа́тельный (opisátelʹnyj) — of, or relating to description
- Russian: нагля́дный (nagljádnyj) — of, or relating to description
- Serbo-Croatian: dȅskriptīvan — of, or relating to description
- Spanish: descriptivo — of, or relating to description
- Spanish: descriptorio (disused) — of, or relating to description
- Swedish: beskrivande — of, or relating to description
- Ukrainian: описо́вий (opysóvyj) — of, or relating to description
- Danish: beskrivende — stating an attribute to associated noun
- Danish: deskriptiv — stating an attribute to associated noun
- Finnish: kuvaileva — stating an attribute to associated noun
- Finnish: deskriptiivinen — stating an attribute to associated noun
- Japanese: 限定用法の (gentei yōhō no) — stating an attribute to associated noun
- Ladino: deskriptivo — stating an attribute to associated noun
- Russian: описа́тельный (opisátelʹnyj) — stating an attribute to associated noun
- Bulgarian: описателен (opisatelen) — describing a language
- Catalan: descriptiu — describing a language
- Finnish: kuvaileva — describing a language
- Finnish: deskriptiivinen — describing a language
- German: deskriptiv — describing a language
- Japanese: 記述的な (kijutsuteki na) — describing a language
- Ladino: deskriptivo — describing a language
- Mongolian: товчоолсон — describing a language
- Mongolian: тодорхойлсон — describing a language
- Mongolian: ᠲᠣᠪᠴᠢᠶᠠᠯᠠᠬᠰᠠᠨ ᠲᠣᠳᠤᠷᠬᠠᠶᠢᠯᠠᠭᠰᠠᠨ — describing a language
- Romanian: descriptiv — describing a language
- Russian: описа́тельный (opisátelʹnyj) — describing a language
- Spanish: descriptivo — describing a language
- Swedish: deskriptiv — describing a language
- Finnish: kuvaileva — describing and seeking to classify
- Finnish: deskriptiivinen — describing and seeking to classify
- Serbo-Croatian: dȅskriptīvan — describing and seeking to classify
Real reading context