interpretive

American  

[in-tur-pri-tiv] / ɪnˈtɜr prɪ tɪv /

adjective

1. serving to interpret; explanatory.

2. deduced by interpretation.

3. made because of interpretation.

   an interpretive distortion of language.

4. of or relating to those arts that require an intermediary, as a performer, for realization, as in music or theater.

5. offering interpretations, explanations, or guidance, as through lectures, brochures, or films.

   the museum's interpretive center.

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Other Word Forms

• interpretively adverb
• noninterpretive adjective
• noninterpretively adverb
• noninterpretiveness noun
• self-interpretive adjective
• uninterpretive adjective
• uninterpretively adverb

Etymology

Origin of interpretive

First recorded in 1670–80; interpret + -ive

Example Sentences

But that would require an interpretive vision that the cuts, rearrangements and distracting instances of rewording fail to supply.

From Los Angeles Times

The signage removal comes after a March 2025 executive order called for the review of over 400 national sites to remove or modify interpretive materials that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”

From Salon

His interpretive approach, refined over years of studying the nuclear threat, credibly sifts the historical record without slowing the book’s tempo.

From The Wall Street Journal

And right now, with the yield curve doing interpretive dance and credit spreads twitching like a politician’s eye during a deposition, banks have decided that the most profitable thing they can do is absolutely nothing.

From MarketWatch

Because her oeuvre is both so vivid and confoundingly strange, the interpretive frame proposed by the curators often feels frustratingly timid.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• analytical
• informative