selective
Americanadjective
-
having the function or power of selecting; making a selection.
-
characterized by selection, especially fastidious selection.
- Synonyms:
- discerning , particular , discriminating
-
of or relating to selection.
-
Electricity, Radio. having good selectivity.
adjective
-
of or characterized by selection
-
tending to choose carefully or characterized by careful choice
-
electronics occurring at, operating at, or capable of separating out a particular frequency or band of frequencies
Other Word Forms
- nonselective adjective
- selectively adverb
- selectiveness noun
- unselective adjective
Etymology
Origin of selective
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.
About half attend colleges more selective than the California State University system, which will soon automatically admit students who meet requirements at 16 of its campuses.
From Los Angeles Times
Macron’s military service will be selective, picking recruits based on its operational needs.
Overall: Aligned with a positive macro regime with selective, income-seeking markets thanks to low volatility and improving technicals—but fundamental cleanup remains the gating factor for sustained rerating.
From Barron's
The results showed that those guided by the personalized algorithm viewed fewer features overall and did so in a patterned, selective manner.
From Science Daily
“But moderate-income consumers are pulling back and middle–income consumers are being very selective.”
From MarketWatch
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.
