formative

[ fawr-muh-tiv ]

/ ˈfɔr mə tɪv /

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adjective

giving form or shape; forming; shaping; fashioning; molding: a formative process in manufacturing.

relating to formation or development: a child's most formative years.

Biology.

capable of developing new cells or tissue by cell division and differentiation: formative tissue.
concerned with the formation of an embryo, organ, or the like.

Education. continuous and diagnostic, and covering specifically the current material with which the student is actively engaged; ongoing: formative assessment;formative evaluation;formative feedback.Compare summative (def. 2).

Grammar. relating to a formative, an affix that indicates the part of speech of a derived word.

noun

Grammar. a derivational affix, particularly one that determines the part of speech of the derived word, as -ness, in loudness, hardness, etc.

Linguistics. (in generative grammar) any element, as a word, affix, or inflectional ending, functioning as a minimal syntactic unit that can be used in forming larger constructions.

OTHER WORDS FOR formative

2 receptive, impressionable, susceptible.

See synonyms for formative on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of formative

First recorded in 1480–90; from Old French formatif (masculine), formative (feminine); see formation, -ive

OTHER WORDS FROM formative

form·a·tive·ly, adverbform·a·tive·ness, nounnon·form·a·tive, adjectivenon·form·a·tive·ly, adverb

sub·form·a·tive, adjectivesub·form·a·tive·ly, adverbsub·form·a·tive·ness, nounun·form·a·tive, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH formative

formative , formidable

Words nearby formative

format, formate, formation, formation dance, formation rules, formative, formative assessment, formative element, formboard, Formby, form class

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use formative in a sentence

For Parks, now an accomplished author, the book was a formative introduction to suspense.
50 years later, ‘The Monster at the End of This Book’ is still selling — and inspiring authors|Danny Freedman|January 27, 2021|Washington Post
The other recent fast-charging breakthrough is at a more formative stage, but it wouldn’t necessarily require upgrades to existing fast charging infrastructure.
New Fast-Charging, Low-Cost Batteries Could Be a Game-Changer for Electric Cars|Edd Gent|January 25, 2021|Singularity Hub
It turns out, as childhood magic tricks go, there was no real bewitchery, just fresh ingredients that I paid little attention to during those formative years.
Trinidad-style aloo and channa infuses an Indian classic with Caribbean flavor|Brigid Washington|January 22, 2021|Washington Post
What helped Andy in particular become that sort of uber-competitor was having an older brother who’s a bit bigger and a bit stronger than him through most of his formative years.
Why Are Great Athletes More Likely To Be Younger Siblings?|Tim Wigmore|December 1, 2020|FiveThirtyEight

The time spent with America’s best miler was formative for Magness.
Inside a secret running program at Nike and a win-at-all-costs corporate culture|Rachel King|October 6, 2020|Fortune
You include a story about a poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, really affecting you in your formative years.
Richard Blanco’s Gay Latino Poet Survival Kit|William O’Connor|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
All my formative years, I spent standing next to Jay [Z] or Justin [Timberlake] or all those kings.
How Pharrell Williams Finally Made It to the Top|Justin Jones|August 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For a generation of moviegoers, there are few filmmakers more influential during one's formative years than Rob Reiner.
Rob Reiner on the State of Romcoms, ‘The Princess Bride’s’ Alternate Ending, and the Red Viper|Marlow Stern|July 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Scopes Trial was a formative moment for modern creationism.
The Scopes Monkey Trial 2.0: It’s Not About the Stupid Science-Deniers|Michael Schulson|July 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The correlation is especially robust in the lower grades, when students are in their formative years.
How a 1973 Supreme Court Decision Has Contributed to Our Inequality|Geoffrey R. Stone|May 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Politically they have been neglected, until the Citizens' Union gave them a formative part in political decisions.
The Leaven in a Great City|Lillian William Betts
If children are not in schools, they are yet subject to influences that are formative of character.
Thoughts on Educational Topics and Institutions|George S. Boutwell
Consequently, we find that behind all systems of primitive religion lies the formative background of natural phenomena.
Myths of Babylonia and Assyria|Donald A. Mackenzie
In its literal sense Bildung implies a shaping and formative action.
The New Society|Walther Rathenau
This was the boy that for the last four years we had considered as a great example of the formative influences of the school!
The Secret Glory|Arthur Machen

British Dictionary definitions for formative

formative

/ (ˈfɔːmətɪv) /

adjective

of or relating to formation, development, or growthformative years

shaping; mouldinga formative experience

(of tissues and cells in certain parts of an organism) capable of growth and differentiation

functioning in the formation of derived, inflected, or compound words

noun

an inflectional or derivational affix

(in generative grammar) any of the minimum units of a sentence that have syntactic function

Derived forms of formative

formatively, adverbformativeness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

formative

OTHER WORDS FOR formative

Origin of formative

OTHER WORDS FROM formative

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH formative

Words nearby formative

Words related to formative

How to use formative in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for formative

Derived forms of formative