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.
“Yeah. It’s the creativity. I really enjoy seeing what they make out of the funky basket items they get. It reminds me of my art-school days. And Ted is so much fun!”
From Salon • Jun. 15, 2026
"They are really incredible ways for people to explore their own creativity. And I think at a government level and almost a population level, to really celebrate that would help with everything."
From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026
But they also “triggered an explosion of creativity. Music served as an individual and collective strategy of resistance, producing mental and spiritual nourishment no less indispensable than food.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
“I’ll give a gold star to whoever drafted the ordinance for creativity. This is some of the most tortured legal reasoning I have ever read,” she said during a council meeting early this month.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2024
“It’s about creativity. Putting your soul on the paper. You’re good at that.”
From "Small Steps" by Louis Sachar
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.
