penetrative
AmericanOther Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of penetrative
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English word from Medieval Latin word penetrātīvus. See penetrate, -ive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Martin said his side were in control early on, but many would argue otherwise given Genk's quick start and the penetrative runs of Zakaria El Ouahdi, in particular.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2025
Unless there are recurring, penetrative rains in August, the family will sell half of its herd.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2021
Above all, alchemists strove to capture the fluid, penetrative properties of ‘mercury’.
From Nature ● Apr. 28, 2020
The skin can be used to test the toxicity or irritation potential of a substance, and the penetrative qualities of active ingredients in products like cosmetics.
From Reuters ● Nov. 13, 2019
Longhi lacks, as I have said, the humour, the satire, the penetrative imagination, the broad sympathy with human nature in its coarser aspects, which make Hogarth unrivalled as a pictorial moralist.
From The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi Volume the Second by Count Carlo Gozzi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
