collective
Americanadjective
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formed by collection.
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forming a whole; combined.
the collective assets of a corporation and its subsidiaries.
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of or characteristic of a group of individuals taken together.
the collective wishes of the membership.
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organized according to the principles of collectivism.
a collective farm.
noun
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collectives
plural
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a collective body; group.
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a business, farm, etc., jointly owned and operated by the members of a group.
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a unit of organization or the organization in a collectivist system.
adjective
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formed or assembled by collection
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forming a whole or aggregate
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of, done by, or characteristic of individuals acting in cooperation
noun
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a cooperative enterprise or unit, such as a collective farm
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the members of such a cooperative
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short for collective noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of collective
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English collectif (from Middle French ), from Latin collēctīvus, equivalent to collēct(us) (past participle of colligere; see collect 1) + -īvus -ive
Explanation
Collective is a word that describes a group of people acting together. A prom might turn into a smashing success through the collective efforts of the student body. The word collective indicates a group, and is often used in opposition to the efforts or will of an individual. Your neighbor who is the only one on the block who refuses to mow her lawn? She's going against the collective. A commune is a type of collective living situation in which several families might live together and contribute for the benefit of the whole. If you work well with others, then you appreciate how collective efforts often have better results.
Vocabulary lists containing collective
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (1968)
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"What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?" Vocabulary from the short story
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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.
See Examples For:
Now, the term plague is linked to the sudden and uncertain death of a healthy young woman—and this time it easily calls to mind our own recent, collective plague-like experience.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
He also served as an artistic associate at the Skylight Theatre in Los Angeles, artist-in-residence at Housing Works, and artistic director of QueerWise, a Spoken Word collective he founded in 2012.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
"A charge density wave is just a collective electronic state that is modulated in space, so there is no reason for them to respond to magnetic fields, let alone be destroyed by them," Madhavan said.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
Warner Bros. has been zagging against collective wisdom and industry experience over the past four years by making expensive bets on fresh ideas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
But there is no collective term for all the different positions which have in common a recognition that some forms of knowledge of nature are more successful than others, and that consequently knowledge can progress.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
These might include karaoke nights, themed bingo happy hours, and raves, often thrown with well-respected collectives.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Instead of direct pay from universities, athletes receive funds indirectly through NIL collectives, donors and sponsorship deals, which the school can broker.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 2026
It’s why Hernandez organized a drag show with seven community organizations in Havana, including gay advocacy group RedHSH and transgender collectives TransCuba and La Red Afro-Cubana de Personas Trans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
Humans cooperate well in close-knit groups—family, friends, professional and civic associations—but struggle immensely in large, abstract collectives that span nations or continents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2025
The number of small farms merged into collectives was a number about equal to the current population of Texas.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
