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.
Johnson & Johnson’s immunology bet is paying off as the drugmaker gears up to market an innovative new psoriasis pill and had stronger-than-expected performance of another drug.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026
This approach is now common, but back then it was innovative.
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026
"LVMH maintained its powerful innovative momentum and showed good resilience in a geopolitical and economic environment that remained disrupted, amplified by the conflict in the Middle East," the company said in a statement.
From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026
On one end, there were innovative, high-end specialty coffee brands.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026
In 1881, the innovative Buck added a new product to the Duke line: cigarettes, already popular in Europe, but still relatively untried in America.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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.
