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

See Examples For:

performative

Another piece, this one written by two Gen-Z women, posits that Holden himself is “the ultimate performative male.”

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026

"People will say it is performative to meet in the middle of the pitch," Marsch said of the big group huddle at full-time.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

"This is about performance, not being performative," she adds.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026

“When you’re out there promoting your movies, there’s a certain performative nature to it. It’s overwhelming. I do get overwhelmed by it.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

I could see now that there was a performative piece to politics that I hadn’t yet fully mastered.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama