productive
Americanadjective
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having the power of producing; generative; creative.
a productive effort.
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producing readily or abundantly; fertile.
a productive vineyard.
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causing; bringing about (usually followed byof ).
conditions productive of crime and sin.
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Economics. producing or tending to produce goods and services having exchange value.
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Grammar. (of derivational affixes or patterns) readily used in forming new words, as the suffix -ness.
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(in language learning) of or relating to the language skills of speaking and writing (receptive ).
adjective
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producing or having the power to produce; fertile
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yielding favourable or effective results
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economics
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producing or capable of producing goods and services that have monetary or exchange value
productive assets
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of or relating to such production
the productive processes of an industry
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resulting in
productive of good results
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denoting an affix or combining form used to produce new words
Related Words
Productive, fertile, fruitful, prolific apply to the generative aspect of something. Productive refers to a generative source of continuing activity: productive soil; a productive influence. Fertile applies to that in which seeds, literal or figurative, take root: fertile soil; a fertile imagination. Fruitful refers to that which has already produced and is capable of further production: fruitful soil, discovery, theory. Prolific means highly productive: a prolific farm, writer.
Other Word Forms
- antiproductive adjective
- antiproductively adverb
- productively adverb
- productiveness noun
- productivity noun
- semiproductive adjective
- semiproductively adverb
- unproductive adjective
- unproductively adverb
- unproductiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of productive
First recorded in 1605–15; from the Medieval Latin word productīvus; product, -ive
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.
The most productive workers in the coming decades will be those who pair deep knowledge in fields such as medicine, law, architecture and finance with a mastery of AI tools.
From MarketWatch
“Global economic competition, particularly in the face of Asia’s growth, is not achieved through the use of force ... but rather through cooperation for development, productive investment, innovation, education and social welfare,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times
We thought it would be productive to ask the workers themselves—in this case Wall Street Journal readers—for a little brainstorming to see what their employers could be doing better.
Tracking things like meetings, screen time and focused work "highlights where time is leaking and what's genuinely productive".
From BBC
Science fiction set in the 2050s is full of examples of humans using technological enhancements to feel fitter, happier and more productive.
From BBC
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.
