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
Etymology
Origin of descriptive
1745–55; < Late Latin dēscrīptīvus, equivalent to Latin dēscrīpt ( us ) ( see description) + -īvus -ive
Explanation
Descriptive language is vivid and specific, and helps someone imagine a scene he didn't witness. You probably hope that your friend who works at the morgue isn't too descriptive when you ask him how his day was. The word descriptive comes from the Latin descript-, meaning "written down." Something that is descriptive uses an account of words to give us a sense of what it's like. We usually use descriptive when people are very effective at conveying something. James Agee is an author who excels at descriptive writing, spending pages and pages beautifully describing the scene of a poor cabin in the moonlight.
Vocabulary lists containing descriptive
Expository Writing, List 1
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Achievement First 5th Grade IA 1 Words
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STAAR English II: Composition, Revision, and Editing
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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.
Descriptive information, such as a bird’s diet or behavior, is often foundational to broader insights into bird ecology and evolution, they note, and much of it comes from fieldwork in the neotropics.
From Science Magazine • Feb. 8, 2023
Descriptive representation, in turn, lends legitimacy to the assembly: citizens seem to find decisions more acceptable when they are made by people like themselves.
From Scientific American • Oct. 27, 2022
In his scholarly work, Dr. Nunberg published papers on topics including “Indexicality and Deixis” and “Indexical Descriptions and Descriptive Indexicals.”
From Washington Post • Aug. 13, 2020
We used sum of squares to calculate the sample variance and the sample standard deviation in Descriptive Statistics.
From Textbooks • Sep. 19, 2013
Descriptive Geometry: the methods for representing upon planes figures placed in space of three dimensions.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 6 "Geodesy" to "Geometry" by Various
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.
