adaptive

[ uh-dap-tiv ]

See synonyms for adaptive on Thesaurus.com

adjective

serving or able to adapt; showing or contributing to adaptation: the adaptive coloring of a chameleon.

Origin of adaptive

¹

First recorded in 1815–25; adapt + -ive

Other words from adaptive

a·dap·tive·ly, adverb
a·dap·tive·ness, noun
ad·ap·tiv·i·ty [ad-ap-tiv-i-tee], /ˌæd æpˈtɪv ɪ ti/, noun
non·a·dap·tive, adjective
re·a·dap·tive, adjective
re·a·dap·tive·ly, adverb
re·a·dap·tive·ness, noun
un·a·dap·tive, adjective
un·a·dap·tive·ly, adverb
un·a·dap·tive·ness, noun

Words that may be confused with adaptive

adaptive , adoptive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use adaptive in a sentence

Ability to respond adaptively to more elements in the environment gives a larger dominion, that is all.
Introduction to the Science of Sociology | Robert E. Park
Surely at least the unclear conception of an adaptively transformative influence of food must be discarded.
On Germinal Selection as a Source of Definite Variation | August Weismann
Its body is less adaptively modified and shows the essentially fish-like character of the batrachian structure.
Elementary Zoology, Second Edition | Vernon L. Kellogg

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