creative

American  

[kree-ey-tiv] / kriˈeɪ tɪv /

adjective

1. having the power to bring something new into being, as a creature, or to evolve something original from one’s own thought or imagination, as a work of art or invention: In the mythologies of the earliest human societies, the predominant ideas about which sex was more important in reproduction may have determined the sex assigned to the universal creative force.

   Research supports the claim that children are most creative in the early grades, before middle school.

   In the mythologies of the earliest human societies, the predominant ideas about which sex was more important in reproduction may have determined the sex assigned to the universal creative force.

2. resulting from originality of thought, expression, etc.; imaginative.

   creative writing.

3. originative; productive (usually followed byof ).

   Marx believed that labor alone was creative of value, not property ownership.

4. Facetious. using or creating exaggerated or skewed data, information, etc..

   creative bookkeeping.

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noun

1. the people who design and produce artwork, video, copy, etc., for a business, typically in service of advertising and other aspects of marketing.

   Creative really hit this one out of the park—we’ve doubled our conversion rate almost overnight.

2. material made for advertising and other aspects of marketing, as a billboard, video ad, or web page design, or the activity of designing and producing it.

   In our latest campaign for a luxury services client, we used an AI platform to fine-tune creative based on user behavior.

3. a person who is an artist, writer, designer, etc., typically one employed by a business to work in advertising or other aspects of marketing.

   You’ll have to hire at least one new senior-level creative to keep up with the client’s expansion plans.

creative British  

/ kriːˈeɪtɪv /

adjective

1. having the ability to create

2. characterized by originality of thought; having or showing imagination

   a creative mind

3. designed to or tending to stimulate the imagination

   creative toys

4. characterized by sophisticated bending of the rules or conventions

   creative accounting

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noun

1. a creative person, esp one who devises advertising campaigns

Other Word Forms

• anticreative
  adjective
• anticreatively
  adverb
• anticreativeness
  noun
• creatively
  adverb
• creativeness
  noun
• creativity
  noun
• noncreative
  adjective
• noncreatively
  adverb
• noncreativeness
  noun
• subcreative
  adjective
• subcreatively
  adverb
• subcreativeness
  noun
• uncreative
  adjective
• uncreatively
  adverb
• uncreativeness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of creative

First recorded in 1670–80; create + -ive

Explanation

Do you like to make art? Do you like to write? Would you like to design clothes or buildings? Then you are a creative person. Creative has to do with new things coming into being: creative is the opposite of destructive. Art class and art schools are good places to be creative. All the artists in a place are known as the "creative community." But being creative isn't just about art — to make anything new or come up with any kind of an idea takes creativity and is therefore creative. Whenever you're making something worthwhile, you're being creative.

Example Sentences

“Hachette remains committed to protecting original creative expression and storytelling,” a Hachette spokeswoman said, per the New York Times.

From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026

Along with "Rainbow Six", those two franchises have been brought together under Vantage Studios, the first of Ubisoft's creative houses to be named.

From Barron's • May 20, 2026

The hotels are chosen based on the story’s creative and logistical needs, an HBO spokesperson said of the show’s departure from the Four Seasons.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026

Instead, it was Arsenal's new-found strength in depth being praised as that creative spark finally came in stoppage time with substitutes Eze and Martinelli combining to draw the home side level.

From BBC • May 19, 2026

The rules said you could take pictures of anything; you could be as creative as you wanted to.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai

Related Words

• gifted
• ingenious
• innovative
• inventive
• original
• productive
• prolific
• visionary