descriptive
Americanadjective
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having the quality of describing; characterized by description.
a descriptive passage in an essay.
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Grammar.
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(of an adjective or other modifier) expressing a quality of the word it modifies, as fresh in fresh milk.
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(of a clause) nonrestrictive.
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noting, concerned with, or based upon the fact or experience.
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characterized by or based upon the classification and description of material in a given field.
descriptive botany.
adjective
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characterized by or containing description; serving to describe
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grammar (of an adjective) serving to describe the referent of the noun modified, as for example the adjective brown as contrasted with my and former
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relating to or based upon description or classification rather than explanation or prescription
descriptive linguistics
Other Word Forms
- descriptively adverb
- descriptiveness noun
- nondescriptive adjective
- nondescriptively adverb
- nondescriptiveness noun
- overdescriptive adjective
- overdescriptively adverb
- overdescriptiveness noun
- self-descriptive adjective
- undescriptive adjective
- undescriptively adverb
- undescriptiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of descriptive
1745–55; < Late Latin dēscrīptīvus, equivalent to Latin dēscrīpt ( us ) ( description ) + -īvus -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.
Steven was very descriptive about the shot or angle he needed.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026
Readers of “The Marble Faun” will find Hawthorne at the height of his descriptive abilities, particularly in his accounts of Roman masterworks, which qualify as artworks themselves.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
By quantifying that threshold, ALFA-K turns genome doubling from a descriptive observation into a predictable evolutionary event.
From Science Daily • Jan. 26, 2026
It’s time to look beyond the alphabet for something more descriptive.
From Barron's • Dec. 4, 2025
I should add, my grandchildren, that not only did our drill instructor speak English in a strange way, he also used many colorful words and descriptive phrases that I won’t repeat.
From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac
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.
