innovative
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
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.
It marks an innovative yet controversial attempt to slow the decline of local journalism.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
"He's really one of the top experts in the world when it comes to the neuromuscular junction, and it definitely gives us an edge here at Mizzou for pioneering innovative work in this field."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026
It’s an inferiority complex tempered by innovative breakthroughs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
The work will also build on innovative use of GPS livestock collars to manage grazing more precisely.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
In charge of them all and entrusted by the legislature to build the new prison was a cruel but innovative disciplinarian, Elam Lynds.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
