Standard Lemma guide

illustrative

adj · 3 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: /ɪˈlʌs.tɹə.tɪv/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɪl.əˌstɹeɪ.tɪv/
  • Canada, General-American: /ɪˈlʌs.tɹə.tɪv/
  • Canada, General-American: [ɪˈlʌs.tɹə.ɾɪv]
  • Canada, General-American: /ˈɪl.əˌstɹeɪ.tɪv/
  • Canada, General-American: [ˈɪl.əˌstɹeɪ.ɾɪv]
  • Wisconsin Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 L AH1 S T R AH0 T IH0 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Demonstrative, exemplative, showing an example or demonstrating.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • This latest incident is illustrative of his continued bad behavior.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

clarifying by use of examples

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: exemplifying

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

serving to demonstrate

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: demonstrative

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h1én Proto-Italic *en Proto-Italic *en- Latin in- Latin lūstrō Latin illūstrō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin illūstrātiōbor. Middle French illustrationbor. English illustrationbf. English illustrate Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Old French -ifbor. Middle English -yf English -ive English illustrative From illustrate + -ive.