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Synonyms

productive

American  
[pruh-duhk-tiv] / prəˈdʌk tɪv /

adjective

  1. having the power of producing; generative; creative.

    a productive effort.

  2. producing readily or abundantly; fertile.

    a productive vineyard.

    Synonyms:
    fecund, fecund
    Antonyms:
    sterile, sterile
  3. causing; bringing about (usually followed byof ).

    conditions productive of crime and sin.

  4. Economics. producing or tending to produce goods and services having exchange value.

  5. Grammar. (of derivational affixes or patterns) readily used in forming new words, as the suffix -ness.

  6. (in language learning) of or relating to the language skills of speaking and writing (receptive ).


productive British  
/ prəˈdʌktɪv /

adjective

  1. producing or having the power to produce; fertile

  2. yielding favourable or effective results

  3. economics

    1. producing or capable of producing goods and services that have monetary or exchange value

      productive assets

    2. of or relating to such production

      the productive processes of an industry

  4. resulting in

    productive of good results

  5. denoting an affix or combining form used to produce new words

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Anthropic, for its part, says its negotiations with the Pentagon continue to be productive, and the questioning about the Maduro raid was part of a routine discussion.

From The Wall Street Journal

"Farmers can see that you can continue to farm and be productive."

From Barron's

Wharton researchers contend this could reduce investment in private productive capital.

From Barron's

The solution is easy to state and hard to implement: unlock productive private investment to meet the demographic challenge.

From The Wall Street Journal

Anthropic is having “productive conversations, in good faith,” with the Pentagon on how to continue that work, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal