collaborative

[kuh-lab-uh-rey-tiv, -er-uh-tiv]

adjective

1. characterized or accomplished by cooperation or working together.

   collaborative methods;

   a collaborative report.

2. relating to or involving several organizations, groups, people, etc., working together for a common purpose.

   My doctor is now part of a collaborative practice.

   Modern policing is trending toward collaborative law enforcement, where police officers work hand-in-hand with community leaders and neighborhood associations.

noun

1. a group of people working together for a common purpose.

   The collaborative of doctors was able to gather important new information about the illness by pooling anonymized patient data.

Other Word Forms

• collaboratively adverb
• uncollaborative adjective
• uncollaboratively adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of collaborative¹

collaborate + -ive

Example Sentences

The Department of Health said it was committed to working collaboratively over the next 12 months to implement the recommendations.

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“Ben and I have known each other since we were in college,” Puleo said, emphasizing their long-standing relationship and the collaborative nature of their process.

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They had previously been characterized as entirely herbivorous, like gorillas, Goodall observed them hunting, killing and eating small mammals such as bush pigs and colobus monkeys, by any standard a complicated collaborative enterprise.

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Mr Price said Claire's was facing "significant" issues and Modella Capital would need to "work collaboratively with all interested parties" if the rescue plan was to succeed.

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Obviously, we take our lead from the Secret Service and the White House, who have been incredibly collaborative.

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When To Use

What does collaborative mean?

Collaborative is an adjective that describes an effort in which people work together (that is, one in which they collaborate).Collaborative is often used in a positive context to refer to two or more parties successfully working together on a goal or shared project. It’s also increasingly used as a noun for an organized joint effort.Example: The groundbreaking new album was a collaborative effort by the two musicians, who usually have very different styles.