privative

American  

[priv-uh-tiv] / ˈprɪv ə tɪv /

adjective

1. causing, or tending to cause, deprivation.

2. consisting in or characterized by the taking away, loss, or lack of something.

3. Grammar. indicating negation or absence.

---

noun

1. Grammar. a privative element, as a- in asymmetric.

2. something that is deprived.

privative British  

/ ˈprɪvətɪv /

adjective

1. causing privation

2. expressing lack or negation, as for example the English suffix -less and prefix un-

3. obsolete logic (of a proposition) that predicates a logical privation

---

Other Word Forms

• privatively
  adverb

---

Etymology

Origin of privative

1350–1400; Middle English privatif < Latin prīvātīvus. See private, -ive

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

privative

But Dr Bhar, a cosmetic surgeon who runs a privative clinic in Harley Street London, disagrees with the ban.

From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2022

Strictly speaking, desire, as a conscious fact, has in it always a negative aspect, a privative aspect,—we desire when we are incomplete, when we lack.

From Social Value A Study in Economic Theory Critical and Constructive by Benjamin M. (Benjamin McAlester) Anderson

But then, the Stoics were not content with so simple a thing as mere negation, but had negative arnetic and privative, to say nothing of supernegative propositions.

From Guide to Stoicism by St. George William Joseph Stock

Bopp’s suggestion that the Sanscrit augment was originally a privative finds support in this analogy.

From The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages, as Set Forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt With the Translation of an Unpublished Memoir by Him on the American Verb by Daniel Garrison Brinton

Un is prefixed to all participles made privative adjectives, as unfeeling, unassisting, unaided, undelighted, unendeared.

From A Grammar of the English Tongue by Samuel Johnson

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• adverse
• gloomy
• pessimistic
• unfavorable
• weak

---