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

• formatives
  plural

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• formatives
  plural

Etymology

Origin of formative

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

Explanation

Formative is a word that describes something that made you who you are. You might call your adolescence your formative years because that time period had such a strong influence on the rest of your life. The word form means “to shape.” Something that is formative is capable of shaping or molding something or someone. A formative experience is one that strongly influenced you, like the first time you went to the beach and decided, from that day, that you wanted to become a world-class surfer. Formative can also describe an organism that is able to form new cells. In linguistics, the noun formative is a small language unit that can help shape or form a word.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

formative formatives

Blur's Dave Rowntree will also share the tales behind the band's formative years through unheard stories alongside candid photos from his new bestselling book, No One You Know.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

The novel spares none of the details of this formative excursion, winningly capturing the singalongs and relay races, the mountain hikes and mess-hall protocols.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Both Eblis and I have been huge fans of his since our formative years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

"It was a privilege to work with the various teams across institutions over the years. It was a formative experience as an early-career researcher."

From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026

She spoke as if she had spent her formative years in some boarding school, walking around with a big-lettered sweater tied around her shoulders.

From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez

So formatives: stare and stair, starling; steer, sterling; shere, sherrif; child, children; kind, kindred; know, knollege; and dhe rest.

From A Minniature ov Inglish Orthoggraphy by James Elphinston

Related Words

• developmental