Dictionary.com

attributive

[ uh-trib-yuh-tiv ]
/ É™ĖˆtrÉŖb yə tÉŖv /
Save This Word!

adjective
pertaining to or having the character of attribution or an attribute.
Grammar. of or relating to an adjective or noun that is directly adjacent to, in English usually preceding, the noun it modifies, without any intervening linking verb, as the adjective sunny in a sunny day or the noun television in a television screen.
noun
Grammar. an attributive word, especially an adjective.
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

Origin of attributive

First recorded in 1600–10

OTHER WORDS FROM attributive

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

How to use attributive in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for attributive

attributive
/ (É™ĖˆtrÉŖbjʊtÉŖv) /

adjective
relating to an attribute
grammar (of an adjective or adjectival phrase) modifying a noun and constituting part of the same noun phrase, in English normally preceding the noun, as black in Fido is a black dog (as opposed to Fido is black)Compare predicative
philosophy relative to an understood domain, as small in that elephant is small
noun
an attributive adjective

Derived forms of attributive

attributively, adverbattributiveness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition Ā© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 Ā© HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
FEEDBACK