innovative
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- innovatively adverb
- innovativeness noun
- uninnovative adjective
Etymology
Origin of innovative
Explanation
Something innovative is new and original. If you love to experiment and find new ways to do things, you are an innovative person. Innovative, like nova, novel, and novice, comes from the Latin novus, which means new. Something innovative renews or alters the way something has been done. You can use innovative to describe the thing or the person that made it. If your English teacher objects to your experimental writing style, tell him, "I'm an innovative writer making innovative sentences!" Antonyms are unoriginal and hackneyed.
Vocabulary lists containing innovative
Brand Spankin' New: Words with Neo- and Nov-
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "I"
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Mardi Gras: Fun
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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.
Sales of innovative medicines rose 11.2% to $15.43 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026
“That partnership supports economic growth in Wyoming, and our flexible and innovative tariff provisions allow us to meet Microsoft’s expanding energy needs while protecting base retail customers from rate impacts,” Ashton added.
From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026
“With a bipartisan, five-year reauthorization signed into law, small businesses are once again empowered to create these innovative technologies and tackle our nation’s most pressing challenges head-on,” Markey said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026
This approach is now common, but back then it was innovative.
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026
Up until then humans had displayed some innovative adaptations and behaviours, but their effect on their environment had been negligible.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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.
