disjunctive
Americanadjective
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serving or tending to disjoin; separating; dividing; distinguishing.
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Grammar.
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syntactically setting two or more expressions in opposition to each other, as but in poor but happy, or expressing an alternative, as or in this or that.
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not syntactically dependent upon some particular expression.
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Logic.
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characterizing propositions that are disjunctions.
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(of a syllogism) containing at least one disjunctive proposition as a premise.
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noun
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a statement, course of action, etc., involving alternatives.
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Logic. disjunction.
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Grammar. a disjunctive word.
adjective
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serving to disconnect or separate
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grammar
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denoting a word, esp a conjunction, that serves to express opposition or contrast: but in the sentence She was poor but she was honest
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denoting an inflection of pronouns in some languages that is used alone or after a preposition, such as moi in French
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Also: alternative. logic relating to, characterized by, or containing disjunction
noun
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grammar
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a disjunctive word, esp a conjunction
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a disjunctive pronoun
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logic a disjunctive proposition; disjunction
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disjunctive
1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin disjunctīvus placed in opposition, equivalent to Latin disjunct ( us ) ( see disjunct) + -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.
In those earliest works using magazine transfers, Cowin layered disjunctive images, visually uniting realities that can’t easily be reconciled emotionally.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
This common argument form is called a disjunctive syllogism.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
After finishing its last page, he is heard to murmur: “So elementary … inchoate … a disjunctive … patchwork.”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 23, 2022
By ignoring the text after the disjunctive, the sponsor has elided the fact that their bill applies to everyone, not just minors.
From Slate ● Mar. 15, 2022
In Latin, vel is considered by Harris to be disjunctive, sive subdisjunctive.
From A Handbook of the English Language by R. G. (Robert Gordon) Latham
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.
