adaptive
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of adaptive
Compare meaning
How does adaptive compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Use adaptive to describe people who are flexible — they don't lose their cool when plans change quickly and they are always willing to learn new ways to do things. Being adaptive helps you sail along in today's ever-changing world. What do chameleons and your grandparents who only started using computers a few years ago have in common? They are adaptive. Just as chameleons change color to match their surroundings — green when sitting on leaves, brown when climbing the tree's trunk — your grandparents learned the skills to keep up with the world around them. The opposite of adaptive is stubborn. People, lizards, or anything that refuses to change are stubborn. To welcome change is to be adaptive.
Vocabulary lists containing adaptive
30 GRE Words Beginning with "A"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Vocabulary from the Introduction to "Reality is Broken" by Jane McGonigal
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Cosmos
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
The games will take place in Birmingham from 10 to 17 July next year, with 550 wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans from 25 nations expected to compete in 12 adaptive sports.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Slipping into survival mode, going through the motions without feeling the crushing weight of the reality of a situation, can be an adaptive response when you’re in the middle of a crisis.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
You have to stay adaptive, keep making small bets, keep getting feedback, and not get attached to your first answer.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
"By comparing ecological ways of life for extinct and modern species, we can understand how patterns of adaptive evolution have changed through time and what factors shaped the modern biosphere."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
It can be argued that youthful derring- do is in fact evolutionarily adaptive, a behavior encoded in our genes.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
