adj
Meaning 1
That reacts or responds to a stimulus.
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
reactive
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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Received-Pronunciation: /ɹiːˈæktɪv/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Canada, General-American: /ɹiˈæktɪv/
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Southeast US Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australian: /ɹiːˈæktɪv/
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New-Zealand: /ɹiːˈɛktəv/
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rhymes with -æktɪv
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CMU ARPABET: R IY0 AE1 K T IH0 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
That readily takes part in reactions.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences
Examples
- francium is the most reactive of the alkali metals.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Characterized by induction or capacitance rather than resistance.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: business, electrical-engineering, electricity, electromagnetism, electronics, energy, engineering, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Reacting to the past rather than anticipating the future, not predictive.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
Meaning 5
participating readily in reactions
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- sodium is a reactive metal
- free radicals are very reactive
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: unreactive
adjective satellite
Meaning 6
reacting to a stimulus
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the skin of old persons is less reactive than that of younger persons
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: responsive
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Etymology tree English react Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Old French -ifbor. Middle English -yf English -ive English reactive From react + -ive.
Across languages
Translations
16 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: реактивен (reaktiven) — (in chemistry) able to react
- Catalan: reactiu — (in chemistry) able to react
- Danish: reaktiv — (in chemistry) able to react
- Danish: reaktionsdygtig — (in chemistry) able to react
- Galician: reactivo — (in chemistry) able to react
- Hungarian: reaktív — (in chemistry) able to react
- Hungarian: reakcióképes — (in chemistry) able to react
- Irish: imoibríoch — (in chemistry) able to react
- Norwegian Bokmål: reaktiv — (in chemistry) able to react
- Norwegian Nynorsk: reaktiv — (in chemistry) able to react
- Occitan: reactiu — (in chemistry) able to react
- Polish: aktywny — (in chemistry) able to react
- Russian: реактивный (reaktivnyj) — (in chemistry) able to react
- Spanish: reactivo — (in chemistry) able to react
- Turkish: gerici — (in chemistry) able to react
- Ukrainian: реактивний (reaktyvnyj) — (in chemistry) able to react
Real reading context