creativity
Americannoun
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the state or quality of being creative.
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the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination.
the need for creativity in modern industry; creativity in the performing arts.
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the process by which one utilizes creative ability.
Extensive reading stimulated his creativity.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of creativity
Explanation
Creativity is the ability to transcend the ordinary. It's the critical thinking skill that allows you to "think outside the box" to come up with original solutions to problems. We often think of creativity as limited to the arts, but it is a necessary element in all areas of life. Without creativity we would not have the mathematical theories that presented us with fractals, or the technological imagination that could foresee people walking on the moon. It was creativity that harnessed lightning into electricity and later used that electricity to send messages through wires. Without creativity, we probably would never have invented the wheel or domesticated fire!
Vocabulary lists containing creativity
Joyous Kwanzaa! Vocabulary Worth Celebrating
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Psychology
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ity, -ty
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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.
But City Hall sucked out her creativity, her optimism, her drive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
This one is a little more ambitious, but it’s an excellent example of how convenience ingredients can leave more room for creativity.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026
"Your ideas and your creativity are a lot more valued because you actually get to implement those firsthand, and the responsibility you take on is a lot greater because of that," says London-based Clinton, 23.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
Paturi: These breakthroughs extend the frontier of research, but I believe shaping that frontier and moving it forward remain within human capacity and creativity.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
This book guides professionals to work through music, harnessing the processes that underlie music learning, and outlining developmentally appropriate methods to understand the role of music in children’s lives through play, games, creativity, and movement.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
