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.
Weituo Keli is controlled by Chen Shuixuan, a professor of engineering at Xiamen University of Technology who has been singled out by the local government for his innovative spirit.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
Outgoing chief executive Tim Cook has been criticised over the years for not being innovative enough with Apple's products.
From BBC • May 5, 2026
The season’s strength was in revivals, a couple of which were so innovative they stretch our understanding of the term.
From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026
But the teams behind the Sorbonne project defend it as an innovative cultural experiment.
From Barron's • May 4, 2026
Established in 2001, the tortilla store is an innovative attempt to preserve one of earth's greatest cultural and biological assets: the many local varieties of maize in the narrow “waist” of southern Mexico.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
