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

World War II was the formative experience for more than one generation of British men, women and children, as Mr. Allport illuminatingly shows us.

From The Wall Street Journal

I tell her about my formative years in Lima, Peru, and my family’s adventures relocating to the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

And thanks to his keen eye and meticulous attention to detail, we’re granted the privilege of sharing these rich, formative experiences with him—at a comfortable remove.

From The Wall Street Journal

But the whole time I wanted to go, “Get out of here! Go, go! This is formative years.”

From Los Angeles Times

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

From Barron's

Related Words

• developmental