Standard Lemma guide

divisive

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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.

  • UK: /dɪˈvaɪsɪv/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /dɪˈvaɪsɪv/
  • Canada: /dɪˈvɪzɪv/
  • Canada: /dɪˈvɪsɪv/
  • Canada: /dɪˈvaɪsɪv/
  • Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -aɪsɪv
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH0 V AY1 S IH0 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Having a quality that divides or separates.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Rather than fostering unity, he becomes divisive.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: disunifying, polarizing

Antonyms: unifying

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

dissenting (especially dissenting with the majority opinion)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dissentious, factious

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dīvīsīvus.

Across languages

Translations

20 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Czech: rozdělující — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Czech: kontroverzní — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Czech: spory vyvolávající — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Czech: rozvratný — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Finnish: erottava — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Finnish: hajottava — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Finnish: erimielisyyttä aiheuttava — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Finnish: mielipiteitä jakava — having a quality that divides or separates
  • French: clivant — having a quality that divides or separates
  • German: spaltend — having a quality that divides or separates
  • German: entzweiend — having a quality that divides or separates
  • German: teilend — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Hungarian: megosztó — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Japanese: 分割的な (bunkatsuteki na) — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Macedonian: раздорен (razdoren) — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Malayalam: ഭിന്നിപ്പിക്കുന്ന (bhinnippikkunna) — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Polish: dzielący — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Polish: rozdzielający — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Russian: раскольнический (raskolʹničeskij) — having a quality that divides or separates
  • Spanish: divisivo — having a quality that divides or separates