manipulative
Americanadjective
-
influencing or attempting to influence the behavior or emotions of others for one’s own purposes.
a manipulative boss.
-
of or relating to manipulation of objects or parts of the body; serving to manipulate.
spinal manipulative therapy.
noun
-
manipulatives
plural
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of manipulative
First recorded in 1815–20; manipulat(e) ( def. ) + -ive ( def. )
Explanation
A manipulative person uses passive, sneaky strategies to get what they want, such as saying "Aren't you lucky to have all that chocolate!" when what they really want is for you to offer them one. Manipulative comes from the Latin word manus for "hand," and originally the English words that sprang from it like manipulate and manipulation referred to skill in physically handling objects by hand. The psychological sense we now associate with manipulative came much later on, but as anyone who has been successfully manipulated well knows, it often feels like you've been brilliantly manhandled.
Vocabulary lists containing manipulative
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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.
See Examples For:
Erika is manipulative and selfish; Elliot doesn’t respect her boundaries either.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
According to TikTok’s community guidelines, the platform bans accounts engaging in deceptive or manipulative activity or discrimination.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Louis had plenty of reasons for doing his maker dirty in “Interview,” like the fact that Lestat de Lioncourt was emotionally withholding and manipulative.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
This supposedly low-danger assignment proves anything but for Kendal, as the manipulative Rico plays his own double game.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Shouldn’t we applaud any effort, regardless of how minor or manipulative, that makes even one child safer?
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
“Kids should be outside, they should be playing, they should be using manipulatives and tactiles.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026
I could suggest ways of bringing manipulatives to traditional paper and pencil mathematics.
From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2020
This philosophy--championed most famously by the Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget--explains the near ubiquity of counting rods and beads, known in academic circles as manipulatives, in most grade-school classrooms.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
