descriptive
Americanadjective
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having the quality of describing; characterized by description.
a descriptive passage in an essay.
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Grammar.
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(of an adjective or other modifier) expressing a quality of the word it modifies, as fresh in fresh milk.
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(of a clause) nonrestrictive.
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noting, concerned with, or based upon the fact or experience.
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characterized by or based upon the classification and description of material in a given field.
descriptive botany.
adjective
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characterized by or containing description; serving to describe
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grammar (of an adjective) serving to describe the referent of the noun modified, as for example the adjective brown as contrasted with my and former
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relating to or based upon description or classification rather than explanation or prescription
descriptive linguistics
Other Word Forms
- descriptively adverb
- descriptiveness noun
- nondescriptive adjective
- nondescriptively adverb
- nondescriptiveness noun
- overdescriptive adjective
- overdescriptively adverb
- overdescriptiveness noun
- self-descriptive adjective
- undescriptive adjective
- undescriptively adverb
- undescriptiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of descriptive
1745–55; < Late Latin dēscrīptīvus, equivalent to Latin dēscrīpt ( us ) ( description ) + -īvus -ive
Explanation
Descriptive language is vivid and specific, and helps someone imagine a scene he didn't witness. You probably hope that your friend who works at the morgue isn't too descriptive when you ask him how his day was. The word descriptive comes from the Latin descript-, meaning "written down." Something that is descriptive uses an account of words to give us a sense of what it's like. We usually use descriptive when people are very effective at conveying something. James Agee is an author who excels at descriptive writing, spending pages and pages beautifully describing the scene of a poor cabin in the moonlight.
Vocabulary lists containing descriptive
Expository Writing, List 1
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Achievement First 5th Grade IA 1 Words
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STAAR English II: Composition, Revision, and Editing
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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.
Steven was very descriptive about the shot or angle he needed.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026
By quantifying that threshold, ALFA-K turns genome doubling from a descriptive observation into a predictable evolutionary event.
From Science Daily • Jan. 26, 2026
It’s time to look beyond the alphabet for something more descriptive.
From Barron's • Dec. 4, 2025
In a bid to purge subjectivity, the definitions were written in a style that was minutely descriptive but might charitably be called ungainly.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 14, 2025
The thing that was descriptive about it, though, was that he had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
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.
