Standard Lemma guide

expressive

adj · noun · 6 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪkˈspɹɛsɪv/
  • Canada, General-American: /ɪkˈspɹɛsɪv/
  • Canada, General-American: /ɛkˈspɹɛsɪv/
  • /ɛkˈspɹæsɛv/ California Vowel Shift
  • California, Southern: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /ɪkˈspɹesɪv/
  • New-Zealand: /əkˈspɹesəv/
  • rhymes with -ɛsɪv
  • CMU ARPABET: IH0 K S P R EH1 S IH0 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Effectively conveying thought or feeling.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • expressive dancing
  • a gesture expressive of the utmost contempt

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Conveying the speaker's emotions and/or attitudes, in addition to the denotative or literal meaning.

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

3

adj

Meaning 3

Able to represent a number of ideas or concepts.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, programming, sciences

Examples

  • A programming language that is Turing complete is more expressive than one that is not.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Any word or phrase that expresses (that the speaker, writer, or signer has) a certain attitude toward or information about the referent.

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

5

noun

Meaning 5

A word or phrase, belonging to a distinct word class or having distinct morphosyntactic properties, with semantic symbolism (for example, an onomatopoeia), variously considered either a synonym, a hypernym or a hyponym of ideophone.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: more narrowly

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sound-symbolic

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

characterized by expression

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a very expressive face

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle French expressif.

Across languages

Translations

34 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: изразителен (izrazitelen) — effectively conveying feeling
  • Catalan: expressiu — effectively conveying feeling
  • Czech: expresivní — effectively conveying feeling
  • Dutch: uitdrukkend — effectively conveying feeling
  • Dutch: zeggingskrachtig — effectively conveying feeling
  • Dutch: expressief — effectively conveying feeling
  • Finnish: ilmaiseva — effectively conveying feeling
  • Finnish: ekspressiivinen — effectively conveying feeling
  • French: expressif — effectively conveying feeling
  • Galician: expresivo — effectively conveying feeling
  • Georgian: გამომეტყველებითი (gamomeṭq̇velebiti) — effectively conveying feeling
  • Georgian: გამომხატველობითი (gamomxaṭvelobiti) — effectively conveying feeling
  • Georgian: გამომეტყველი (gamomeṭq̇veli) — effectively conveying feeling
  • Georgian: გამომხატველი (gamomxaṭveli) — effectively conveying feeling
  • German: ausdrucksvoll — effectively conveying feeling
  • German: ausdrucksstark — effectively conveying feeling
  • Greek: εκφραστικός (ekfrastikós) — effectively conveying feeling
  • Ancient Greek: φραστικός (phrastikós) — effectively conveying feeling
  • Ido: expresiva — effectively conveying feeling
  • Italian: espressivo — effectively conveying feeling
  • Macedonian: изразит (izrazit) — effectively conveying feeling
  • Macedonian: изразен (izrazen) — effectively conveying feeling
  • Māori: pūkare — effectively conveying feeling
  • Occitan: expressiu — effectively conveying feeling
  • Polish: wyrazisty — effectively conveying feeling
  • Polish: ekspresywny — effectively conveying feeling
  • Portuguese: expressivo — effectively conveying feeling
  • Portuguese: significativo — effectively conveying feeling
  • Romanian: expresiv — effectively conveying feeling
  • Romanian: plin de expresie — effectively conveying feeling
  • Russian: вырази́тельный (vyrazítelʹnyj) — effectively conveying feeling
  • Slovak: expresívny — effectively conveying feeling
  • Spanish: expresivo — effectively conveying feeling
  • Swedish: uttrycksfull — effectively conveying feeling
Real reading context

expressive in complete knowledge articles

Japanese destroyer Hatsuzakura Technology & inventions · Challenging · 1 uses