supportive
Americanadjective
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giving support.
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providing sympathy or encouragement.
His family was supportive of his attempts to be a writer.
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providing additional help, information, etc.; auxiliary.
manufacturers of supportive materials.
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Medicine/Medical. helping to maintain a normal physiological balance, as by the intravenous administration of required nutriment.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of supportive
Explanation
To be supportive is to give help or assistance, or to hold something or someone up. If your parents are supportive of your dreams to become a chef, they might enroll you in cooking classes. Supportive is a snuggly word. Anything that supports you, or embraces you and holds you up is supportive. It can be physically supportive, like a girdle that holds your belly in, or emotionally supportive like a loving family or solid network of friends. A parent paying for a child's college bills is supportive financially. Things can be supportive, too — posts holding up a building are supportive. Being supportive is a good thing.
Vocabulary lists containing supportive
Dear Martin
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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.
Although her mother is loving and supportive, Samira does not share any stories of sexual harassment with her.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
For decades, doctors could offer supportive care and treatments to ease individual symptoms, but they had no approved medication capable of targeting the disease itself.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
Moreover, despite the stock-market slump, the fundamentals for Korean companies remain very supportive.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
While supportive of continued economic pressure on Iran, the crown prince was telling his advisers to keep the diplomatic channel open with Iran and make clear the kingdom’s intentions weren’t confrontational, the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Nor is the leading classic rock station turning out to be sufficiently supportive.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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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.
