performative

[per-fawr-muh-tiv]

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.

noun

1. a performative utterance.

performative

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• performatively adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of performative¹

First recorded in 1950–55; perform + -ative

Example Sentences

The performative plays, meant to signal loyalty to the resistance, have no second act.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

From the start, Ono’s art was performative and interactive.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"Iraqis increasingly view elections not as a way to influence policy, but as a performative act with little impact on governance," it added.

Read more on Barron's

“These deals do still feel quite performative,” said Gaurav Ganguly, head of international economics at Moody’s Analytics.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“They want a governor that’s not going to be performative, but really focused on the issues that California needs help on.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times