projective

American  

[pruh-jek-tiv] / prəˈdʒɛk tɪv /

adjective

1. of or relating to projection.

2. produced, or capable of being produced, by projection.

3. Psychology. of, relating to, or noting a test or technique for revealing the hidden motives or underlying personality structure of an individual by the use of ambiguous or unstructured test materials, as ink blots, cloud pictures, or cartoons, that encourage spontaneous responses.

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projective British  

/ prəˈdʒɛktɪv /

adjective

1. relating to or concerned with projection

   projective geometry

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Other Word Forms

• nonprojective adjective
• projectively adverb
• projectivity noun
• unprojective adjective

Etymology

Origin of projective

First recorded in 1625–35; project + -ive

Example Sentences

This capacity to falsely redefine others by projecting into them one’s own traits is called projective identification.

From Salon • Oct. 16, 2023

This mechanism of projective identification creates a powerful yet unconscious contract between the two to keep enacting the same ritual.

From Washington Post • Feb. 13, 2023

In such a mutually projective scheme, anyone who shows interest is disqualified.

From Slate • Aug. 1, 2021

Smaller topological surfaces, the surfaces we call compact, have a nice classification: they are all combinations of tori and projective planes.

From Scientific American • Nov. 5, 2017

Gérard Desargues, a seventeenth-century French architect, was one of the early pioneers of projective geometry.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife