affective
Americanadjective
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of, caused by, or expressing emotion or feeling; emotional.
-
causing emotion or feeling.
adjective
-
psychol relating to affects
-
concerned with or arousing the emotions or affection
Other Word Forms
- affectively adverb
- affectivity noun
- nonaffective adjective
Etymology
Origin of affective
1540–50; from Medieval Latin affectīvus, equivalent to Latin affect(us) (action noun; affect 1 ) + -īvus -ive
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.
The 27-year-old data scientist struggles with seasonal affective disorder, meaning January can be tough, but she has found ways to counter it.
From BBC • Jan. 18, 2026
Of these participants, 259 had schizophrenia and 177 had affective disorders that included bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder with psychosis.
From Science Daily • Dec. 4, 2025
Are you in any of the affective areas?
From BBC • Jul. 30, 2025
On top of this endorsement of irony, Berlant also theorized a post-irony characterized by meaningful sincerity, allowing us to patch or bridge the affective conflicts of public life that can’t be resolved through ironic detachment.
From Salon • Nov. 29, 2024
But people live also in the realm of the affective and aesthetic—that's why they bury bodies and sometimes dig them up and pour love potions on them.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
