reductive

[ri-duhk-tiv]

adjective

1. of or relating to reduction; serving to reduce or abridge.

   an urgent need for reductive measures.

2. of or relating to change from one form to another.

   reductive chemical processes.

3. employing an analysis of a complex subject into a simplified, less detailed form; of, pertaining to, or employing reductionism; reductionistic.

noun

1. something causing or inducing a reductive process.

Other Word Forms

• reductively adverb
• reductiveness noun
• antireductive adjective
• nonreductive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of reductive¹

First recorded in 1625–35; reduct(ion) + -ive

Related Words

• diminishing www.thesaurus.com
• diminutive 
• minimal 
• subtractive