Standard Lemma guide

performative

adj · noun · 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.

  • CMU ARPABET: P ER0 F AO1 R M AH0 T IH0 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Being enacted as it is said.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, philosophy, sciences

Examples

  • Saying "I do" as part of a wedding ceremony is performative, enacting a marriage.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Insincere, inauthentic or disingenuous; done solely or largely as a performance, to produce an impression or enhance one's reputation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • We were beginning to suspect that her ethical qualms were sometimes performative, as the urgent need for fairness and justice seemed to apply to some people but not to others.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A performative utterance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English perform Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh2tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātuslbor. English -ate Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Old French -ifbor. Middle English -yf English -ive English -ative English performative From perform + -ative.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Spanish: performativo — performatory
  • Spanish: performático — performatory
  • Spanish: performántico — performatory