inventive
Americanadjective
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apt at inventing or thinking up new machines or devices, methods, solutions, etc., or at improvising from what is at hand; innovative or ingenious.
Luckily the bike mechanic is a most inventive person—you’ll be surprised at what he can do with a piece of wire and some scrap metal.
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apt at creating with the imagination.
The delightful and tirelessly inventive storyteller is back with an animated stop-motion adventure.
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being the product of imagination, resourcefulness, etc.; creative and original.
It’s an enthralling, inventive, and wholly unique exhibit from an artist without peer.
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relating to or used for inventing.
These recordings captured the musician at the height of her inventive power.
adjective
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skilled or quick at contriving; ingenious; resourceful
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characterized by inventive skill
an inventive programme of work
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of or relating to invention
Other Word Forms
- inventively adverb
- inventiveness noun
- preinventive adjective
- uninventive adjective
- uninventively adverb
Etymology
Origin of inventive
First recorded in 1400–50; invent + -ive; replacing late Middle English inventif, from Old French
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Through some inventive structures and a playful rewiring of romantic tropes going back to Homer, Groff stitches together a portrait of a marriage that she then carefully unravels.
From Los Angeles Times
Typical of Keaton’s inventive sound design, forest sounds, including birds chirping, are heard.
Motin had led jurors on a "merry dance" in his evidence, which was an "exercise in inventive distraction", Mr Justice Baker said.
From BBC
It is a demoralising development for his opponents, who already had his dizzying combination of power, athleticism and inventive variety to contend with.
From BBC
Nimble and inventive, with convincing special effects work, the film is a charming parable that continually finds ways to reset itself.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
