declarative
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does declarative mean? Declarative describes something that makes information known, offers an explicit explanation, or describes something that makes an official statement, as in The prime minister gave a declarative speech on her opposition to the war.If someone is giving a declarative statement, then they are clearly and firmly stating something, as in The mayor’s declarative report detailed her plans to decrease pollution.In English grammar, a declarative sentence is used to state facts, opinions, or other information, as this sentence does.Another word for declarative is declaratory, which is often used in law and legal documentation.Example: When Ming started skipping practices, the coach saw it as a declarative statement that Ming was done with the team.
Other Word Forms
- declaratively adverb
- nondeclarative adjective
- nondeclaratively adverb
- nondeclaratory adjective
- undeclarative adjective
Etymology
Origin of declarative
1530–40; < Latin dēclārātīvus explanatory, equivalent to dēclārāt ( us ) ( declaration ) + -īvus -ive
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.
Instead, authors turned out a lot of flat, declarative prose; clipped, “masculine” dialogue; and a form of realism bound to personal experience.
“Call me Ishmael,” which opens Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick,” is among the most famous first lines in all of literature, but I prefer a different declarative Melville opening: “I am a rather elderly man.”
Broadly painted still lifes from the 1930s, with apples and pears transformed into flat, declarative shapes, have the physical presence of “The Lace Shawl,” with a very different mood and affect.
He spoke in declarative statements, I spoke in questions.
From Literature
In Yautja, the structure of a declarative sentence — one that makes a statement, provides a fact or offers an explanation — is the reverse of those in English.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
