adoptive

[uh-dop-tiv]

adjective

1. of or involving adoption.

2. acquired or related by adoption.

   an adoptive father or son.

3. tending to adopt.

adoptive

/ əˈdɒptɪv /

adjective

1. acquired or related by adoption

   an adoptive father

2. of or relating to adoption Compare adopted

Usage

Although adoptive in the sense “acquired or related by adoption” can refer to either parent or child in such a relationship, adoptive is customarily applied to the parent ( her adoptive mother ) and adopted to the child ( their adopted son ).

Other Word Forms

• adoptively adverb
• unadoptive adjective
• unadoptively adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of adoptive¹

1400–50; < Latin adoptīvus; adopt, -ive; replacing late Middle English adoptife < Middle French adoptif

Example Sentences

Prof Machin says her research, which surveyed 512 adoptive parents, suggests many adoption disruptions and breakdowns could be avoided with timely and appropriate support.

Read more on BBC

He was frequently anxious and sullen, a result of trauma from his birth mother’s drug use, according to his adoptive mother, Mallory Cooley.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"We don't want people to think that because we're an adoptive family it must be because it's biologically not possible," Emma explained.

Read more on BBC

Enlisting Esther as a surrogate, who in turn finds a partner in Mandatory Palestine, Honor becomes the adoptive mother of James Winslow, a “Two-Moms Idea.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Ball was born May 3, 1959, in Chester, England, and grew up in an adoptive family in Blackpool.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

When To Use

What does adoptive mean?

Adoptive means related by adoption—the process of taking another parent’s child into one’s custody, typically in a formal legal way, in order to permanently act as their parent or guardian. To do so is to adopt.A person’s adoptive family is the one they were adopted into. The word can also be applied to specific family members related by adoption, as in adoptive father and adoptive daughter. However, adoptive is most commonly used for parents, while the adjective adopted is more commonly applied to a child who has been adopted, as in Their adopted daughter is the newest addition to the family. Adoption most commonly involves an adult couple or a single adult adopting and raising a child who is no longer in the custody of either of their birth parents (biological parents), such as in cases where they have died or are otherwise unable to care for the child. More generally, adoptive can be used to describe things involving adoption.The word adopt is also used in more general ways. It can mean to choose or take as one's own (such as to adopt a new tradition) or to accept something or vote to approve it (such as to adopt a plan or law). Adoptive can also mean tending to adopt in these ways, but this sense is not very commonly used.Example: I consider my adoptive family my real family, but I still want to have a relationship with my birth parents.