formative

American  

[fawr-muh-tiv] / ˈfɔr mə tɪv /

adjective

1. giving form or shape; forming; shaping; fashioning; molding.

   a formative process in manufacturing.

2. relating to formation or development.

   a child's most formative years.

   Synonyms:

   impressionable, receptive, susceptible

3. Biology.

   1. capable of developing new cells or tissue by cell division and differentiation.

      formative tissue.

   2. concerned with the formation of an embryo, organ, or the like.

4. Education. continuous and diagnostic, and covering specifically the current material with which the student is actively engaged; ongoing: formative evaluation;

   formative assessment;

   formative evaluation;

   formative feedback.

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

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noun

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

2. 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.

formative British  

/ ˈfɔːmətɪv /

adjective

1. of or relating to formation, development, or growth

   formative years

2. shaping; moulding

   a formative experience

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

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

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noun

1. an inflectional or derivational affix

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

Other Word Forms

• formatively adverb
• formativeness noun
• nonformative adjective
• nonformatively adverb
• subformative adjective
• subformatively adverb
• subformativeness noun
• unformative adjective

Etymology

Origin of formative

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

Example Sentences

For many young Lebanese caught in the crossfire, their formative years have been jeopardised by repeated conflicts and crises.

From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026

That was really formative and evolved my world.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2026

Mojtaba Khamenei spent his formative years like many young Iranian men, fighting in the 1980-1988 war against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 9, 2026

It meant a generation of youngsters in the area missed out on the chance to use the indoor facility like Carrick did in his formative years.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

Two other areas of experience which have been extremely formative in my life since prison were first opened to me in the Norfolk Prison Colony.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

Related Words

• developmental