abortive
Americanadjective
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failing to succeed; unsuccessful.
an abortive rebellion; an abortive scheme.
- Synonyms:
- vain, unavailing, bootless, ineffectual, fruitless
- Antonyms:
- successful
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born prematurely.
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imperfectly developed; rudimentary.
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Medicine/Medical.
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producing or intended to produce abortion; abortifacient.
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acting to halt progress of a disease.
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Pathology. (of the course of a disease) short and mild without the usual, pronounced clinical symptoms.
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Botany. (of seeds or pollen grains) imperfect; unable to germinate.
adjective
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failing to achieve a purpose; fruitless
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(of organisms) imperfectly developed; rudimentary
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causing abortion; abortifacient
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of abortive
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English word from Latin word abortīvus. See abort, -ive
Explanation
Did you ever start something and not finish it? If so, that was an abortive project. Abortive things don't get finished. Abortive is a variation of abort, which means to end something, so something abortive never reaches its end point. If you tried like crazy to run a marathon but couldn't finish, your efforts were abortive. If someone tripped you during the marathon, their efforts were abortive too. Abortive things always lead to the words "The end." Abortive can also be a way of avoiding the word unsuccessful.
Vocabulary lists containing abortive
"The Great Gatsby," Chapter 1 Vocabulary
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "Beyond Vietnam" (1967)
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And Then There Were None
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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.
Abortive stays at five prep schools and two colleges were transformed into a gilt-edged education at Groton and Yale.
From Time Magazine Archive
Abortive also were attempts to solve the Chaco boundary dispute between Bolivia & Paraguay.
From Time Magazine Archive
Abortive organs, too, gain significance on the evolutionary hypothesis.
From Form and Function A Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology by E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
Has not a great many both good and bad Designs been render'd Abortive in this our Lower World, for want of the Harmony of Parties, and the Unanimity of those concern'd in the Design?
From The Consolidator or, Memoirs of Sundry Transactions from the World in the Moon by Defoe, Daniel
While ghastly faces through the gloom appear, Abortive joy, and hope that works in fear; While prayer contends with silenced agony, Surely in other thoughts contempt may die.
From The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 1 by Knight, William
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.
