collaborative

American  

[kuh-lab-uh-rey-tiv, -er-uh-tiv] / kəˈlæb əˌreɪ tɪv, -ər ə tɪv /

adjective

1. characterized or accomplished by cooperation or working together.

   collaborative methods;

   a collaborative report.

2. relating to or involving several organizations, groups, people, etc., working together for a common purpose.

   My doctor is now part of a collaborative practice.

   Modern policing is trending toward collaborative law enforcement, where police officers work hand-in-hand with community leaders and neighborhood associations.

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noun

1. a group of people working together for a common purpose.

   The collaborative of doctors was able to gather important new information about the illness by pooling anonymized patient data.

Usage

What does collaborative mean? Collaborative is an adjective that describes an effort in which people work together (that is, one in which they collaborate). Collaborative is often used in a positive context to refer to two or more parties successfully working together on a goal or shared project. It’s also increasingly used as a noun for an organized joint effort. Example: The groundbreaking new album was a collaborative effort by the two musicians, who usually have very different styles.

Other Word Forms

• collaboratively adverb
• uncollaborative adjective
• uncollaboratively adverb

Etymology

Origin of collaborative

collaborate + -ive

Explanation

The adjective collaborative describes something accomplished by working together with others. With a collaborative effort, a big job can be completed in very little time. When you collaborate, you cooperate, or join forces, with other people — working on a project, brainstorming ideas, even assigning responsibility for who will do what. So something that has these qualities is collaborative. From playing in a band to making a movie, feeding the students at a school to building a house, when you work toward a shared goal, it's collaborative.

Example Sentences

TikTok said it had a "longstanding and collaborative relationship" with City Hall, adding that the GLA's research did not include data from its platform.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

Valkyrie is Kratos’ collaborative combat aircraft, designed to fly alongside crewed fighter jets, including the F-35.

From Barron's • Apr. 6, 2026

The court wrote that it’s an ethical problem when the “prolonged access” at J&J was “followed by collaborative efforts with its most prominent adversary.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

He’s quick to note the show’s collaborative ethos, however.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026

Namely, the creation of the Farewell Address was an inherently collaborative process.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis