performative

American  

[per-fawr-muh-tiv] / pərˈfɔr mə tɪv /

adjective

1. Philosophy, Linguistics. (of an expression or statement) performing an act by the very fact of being uttered, as with the expression “I promise,” that performs the act of promising.

2. relating to the performance of behaviors associated with a particular social role or identity.

   He reflects on his mother's performative femininity, remembering the times he witnessed her adorning herself with eyeshadow, bracelets, and belts.

3. relating to ways of behaving that exhibit a socially acceptable belief, trait, or quality, often making a superficial impression.

   Performative wokeness enables privileged people to reap the social benefits of wokeness without actually undertaking the necessary legwork to combat inequality.

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noun

1. a performative utterance.

performative British  

/ pəˈfɔːmətɪv /

adjective

1. 1. denoting an utterance that constitutes some act, esp the act described by the verb. For example, I confess that I was there is itself a confession, and so is performative in the narrower sense, while I'd like you to meet … (effecting an introduction) is performative only in the looser sense See also locutionary act illocution perlocution

   2. ( as noun )

      that sentence is a performative

2. 1. denoting a verb that may be used as the main verb in such an utterance

   2. ( as noun )

      ``promise'' is a performative

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Other Word Forms

• performatively adverb

Etymology

Origin of performative

First recorded in 1950–55; perform + -ative

Example Sentences

Another decried the Taylor Swift collaborator’s “performative ‘activism,’” calling it “incredibly disappointing.”

From Salon

Brad also enjoys writing essays and quirky features for the Journal and has tackled topics such as GLP-1 medicines, college sports recruiting, Jesus models, Gen Z linguistics and performative printer-bashing.

From The Wall Street Journal

Participation in many of these organizations is inherently symbolic—a ritual of internationalism—so quitting them is inherently performative as well.

From The Wall Street Journal

She said their actions were "more performative than real" and that the defendants had really wanted to film footage of a confrontation with Nye and them giving her the Bible.

From BBC

Flying far below the heat-seeking radar, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear leaned into the role of economic ambassador, focusing on job creation and other nutsy, boltsy stuff that doesn’t grab much notice in today’s performative political environment.

From Los Angeles Times