formative

[fawr-muh-tiv]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR formative ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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

pertaining 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.

Grammar. pertaining to a formative.

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.

Origin of formative

From the Middle French word formatif, dating back to 1480–90. See formation, -ive

Related formsform·a·tive·ly, adverbform·a·tive·ness, nounnon·form·a·tive, adjectivenon·form·a·tive·ly, adverbsub·form·a·tive, adjectivesub·form·a·tive·ly, adverbsub·form·a·tive·ness, nounun·form·a·tive, adjective

Can be confusedformative formidable

Synonyms for formative

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR formative ON THESAURUS.COM

2. receptive, impressionable, susceptible.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for formative

developmental, sensitive, determinative, shaping, immature, impressible, malleable, pliant, susceptible, moldable

Examples from the Web for formative

Contemporary Examples of formative

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
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
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
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
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

Historical Examples of formative

In its literal sense Bildung implies a shaping and formative action.
The New Society
Walther Rathenau
Evolution, like development, was due to a Bildungskraft or formative force.
Form and Function
E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
Formative Reize in der thierischen Ontogenese, Leipzig, 1901.
Form and Function
E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
He had undergone the labours of a titan for twelve eventful and formative years.
A History of the United States
Cecil Chesterton
Perhaps the Chiltern she had married was as yet in a formative state.
A Modern Chronicle, Complete
Winston Churchill

British Dictionary definitions for formative

formative

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 Formsformatively, 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

Word Origin and History for formative

adj.

late 15c., from Middle French formatif, from Latin format-, past participle stem of formare (see form (n.)).