adjective
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tending or designed to arouse emotion
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of or characterized by emotion
Usage
Emotional is preferred to emotive when describing a display of emotion: he was given an emotional (not emotive ) welcome
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of emotive
Explanation
Something described as emotive shows feeling. If you consider women more emotive than men, you think that women are more comfortable sharing their feelings than men. While the word emotive is similar to the word emotional, it's important to note that the two aren't interchangeable. Emotive is used with regard to something that makes you have intense feelings rather than just having intense feelings. For example, an emotive conversation will result in getting people's emotions riled up, while an emotional conversation is one in which people go into it with a lot of intense feelings already.
Vocabulary lists containing emotive
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.
“The emotive nature of the category, alongside these durable levers that we bring to market, puts us in a category which is relatively much more inert to some of these macro headwinds,” Singh said.
From Barron's • May 19, 2026
The community choirs said they wanted to us the "emotive power of song" to highlight what they say is the desperate need for a long-term recovery plan to combat pollution and ecological decline.
From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026
Veteran Pinoy rock bands like Eraserheads and current acts like Cup of Joe and Lola Amour are cutting-edge, virtuosic and exquisitely emotive.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
Simpson said the challenge was how to hold Walter Mitty's to account proportionally on such an emotive subject for many.
From BBC • Jan. 21, 2026
“And it’s a temptation for any intelligent person, and especially for perfectionists such as the ancients and ourselves, to try to murder the primitive, emotive, appetitive self. But that is a mistake.”
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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.
