supportive

American  

[suh-pawr-tiv, -pohr-] / səˈpɔr tɪv, -ˈpoʊr- /

adjective

1. giving support.

2. providing sympathy or encouragement.

   His family was supportive of his attempts to be a writer.

3. providing additional help, information, etc.; auxiliary.

   manufacturers of supportive materials.

4. Medicine/Medical. helping to maintain a normal physiological balance, as by the intravenous administration of required nutriment.

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supportive British  

/ səˈpɔːtɪv /

adjective

1. providing support, esp moral or emotional support

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Other Word Forms

• nonsupportive
  adjective
• supportively
  adverb
• supportiveness
  noun
• unsupportive
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of supportive

First recorded in 1585–95; support + -ive

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.

Example Sentences

Germany and Japan remains supportive, and so, while U.S. equities are the preference, there are pockets of Europe and Japan where it feels comfortable, notably in industrials, materials, tech and utilities.

From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026

Once in place, it forms a supportive structure that encourages cell growth and tissue repair.

From Science Daily • May 5, 2026

Recently, “we pointed to the wide variance when it came to Street price targets as reflective of the uncertainty in the name, and thus incrementally supportive of owning the volatility,” wrote Jacobson.

From Barron's • May 4, 2026

Dr. Prasad pushed out agency veterans who have been supportive of rare-disease and cancer drugs, which resulted in a brain drain at the agency and delayed drug reviews.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

I was trying to be supportive and protective at the same time.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz