creativity
Americannoun
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the state or quality of being creative.
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the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination.
the need for creativity in modern industry; creativity in the performing arts.
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the process by which one utilizes creative ability.
Extensive reading stimulated his creativity.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of creativity
Explanation
Creativity is the ability to transcend the ordinary. It's the critical thinking skill that allows you to "think outside the box" to come up with original solutions to problems. We often think of creativity as limited to the arts, but it is a necessary element in all areas of life. Without creativity we would not have the mathematical theories that presented us with fractals, or the technological imagination that could foresee people walking on the moon. It was creativity that harnessed lightning into electricity and later used that electricity to send messages through wires. Without creativity, we probably would never have invented the wheel or domesticated fire!
Vocabulary lists containing creativity
Joyous Kwanzaa! Vocabulary Worth Celebrating
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Psychology
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ity, -ty
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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.
“Their values, their ethos, their creativity do not stop,” Pearson said of dancers.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2026
It was precisely the formula that Cohen envisioned when he finally pried Stearns out of Milwaukee: the creativity and ingenuity of Moneyball, only with actual money at their disposal.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026
"Human consent is not an impediment to progress. Human consent does not diminish the struggles and the joys of technological innovation or inhuman creativity," Blanchett said at the event in the parliament's library.
From Barron's • Jun. 23, 2026
Your book basically tells us to stop repeating these talking points, not just because they’re untrue, but because this is mostly a labor issue, not an intelligence or creativity issue.
From Salon • Jun. 22, 2026
Incensed local lawmakers responded with monuments to legislative creativity.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
