reductive
[ ri-duhk-tiv ]
adjective
of or relating to reduction; serving to reduce or abridge: an urgent need for reductive measures.
of or relating to change from one form to another: reductive chemical processes.
employing an analysis of a complex subject into a simplified, less detailed form; of, pertaining to, or employing reductionism; reductionistic.
noun
something causing or inducing a reductive process.
Origin of reductive
1First recorded in 1625–35; reduct(ion) + -ive
Other words from reductive
- re·duc·tive·ly, adverb
- re·duc·tive·ness, noun
- an·ti·re·duc·tive, adjective
- non·re·duc·tive, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use reductive in a sentence
The sublime and exuberant imagery of the latter exists reductively as an important virtue of the present lyric.
An Essay on the Lyric Poetry of the Ancients | John OgilvieFor the human soul, whether it be sick or healthy, cannot be merely reductively explained.
Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology | C. G. Jung
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