appositive

[uh-poz-i-tiv]

noun

1. a word or phrase in apposition.

adjective

1. placed in apposition.

2. (of an adjective or adjectival phrase) directly following the noun it modifies.

appositive

/ əˈpɒzɪtɪv /

adjective

1. grammar

   1. standing in apposition

   2. another word for nonrestrictive

2. of or relating to apposition

noun

1. an appositive word or phrase

Other Word Forms

• appositively adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of appositive¹

First recorded in 1685–95; apposit(ion) + -ive

Example Sentences

Saunders loves to parody legal language, thick with appositive commas and capitalized terms, because he understands how that junk works at cross-purposes — it’s rigidly precise but designed mainly to cover things up.

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By contrast, GPT-3 has no advance knowledge about syntax: There are no human-programmed algorithms to ensure that its subjects and verbs are in agreement, or that a comma is inserted before an appositive.

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The best modern sentences resemble Donne’s, with simple statements upfront, then a pileup, if need be, of clause upon appositive clause, clarifying, elaborating, potentially without cease — but casually, too, always ready to end.

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She also has a notable fondness for the appositive oblique: “the animal wildness of it,” “the hot nothingness of it,” “the glorious spectacle of it,” “the rough gray infinity of it.”

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We neglected to close off this appositive with a second comma.

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