probative
Americanadjective
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serving or designed for testing or trial.
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affording proof or evidence.
adjective
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serving to test or designed for testing
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providing proof or evidence
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of probative
1425–75; late Middle English < Middle French probatif < Latin probātīvus of proof. See probate, -ive
Explanation
The legal term probative describes something that tends to demonstrate or prove something. A weapon with the accused's fingerprints on it would be considered probative evidence at a trial. In the law, the phrase "probative value" is used a lot, generally meaning "the ability of a piece evidence to prove something important in a trial." Probative comes from the Latin probativus, "belonging to proof," and is commonly understood among lawyers and judges to mean "tending to prove." Did you manage to get a photo of that lady in the act of stealing your neighbor's dog? That's definitely probative evidence!
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.
A burnt horseshoe found in the rubble is more promising as a probative clue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2025
Although this account comes to us decades later, I find it probative.
From Slate ● Jan. 18, 2024
Those suspicions turned out to be unfounded, though, and the raid failed to turn up probative criminal evidence.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 23, 2023
"The dates on unclassified records may prove highly probative in the government's investigation," the filing said.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2022
“Sally asked so many garrulous, probative questions that at ten this morning I was reduced to answering, ‘I am sufficiently well, madam.’
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
