repetitive

[ ri-pet-i-tiv ]

adjective

1. pertaining to or characterized by repetition.

repetitive

/ rɪˈpɛtɪtɪv /

adjective

1. characterized by or given to unnecessary repetition; boring

   dull, repetitive work

Derived Forms

• reˈpetitively, adverb
• reˈpetitiveness, noun

Other Words From

• re·peti·tive·ly adverb
• re·peti·tive·ness noun
• nonre·peti·tive adjective
• nonre·peti·tive·ly adverb
• unre·peti·tive adjective
• unre·peti·tive·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of repetitive¹

First recorded in 1830–40; from Latin repetīt(us) “attacked again” (past participle of repetere “to attack again, demand return of”; repeat ) + -ive

Example Sentences

It was there that Hollerith got the idea to mechanize the repetitive tabulations involved in census work.

From MIT Technology Review

That’s because the immutability of rituals — their fixed and often repetitive nature — is core to their definition, Schroeder and others say.

From Science News

Patients either speak less or say less when they speak, using vague, repetitive, stereotypical phrases.

From MIT Technology Review

Scientists have been slowly filling in the gaps, but certain portions that feature repetitive sequences going on for millions of base pairs have long been seen as intractable.

From Singularity Hub 

When applied to these highly repetitive sections it becomes almost impossible to distinguish the pieces, so putting them back together in the right order is extremely difficult.

From Singularity Hub 

Even extreme beauty — and even the best of bodies and most involving pictures of them — can become repetitive.

From The Daily Beast

What was once sexy and mildly transgressive—the perfect antidote to Twilight—devolved into a repetitive, unimaginative mess.

From The Daily Beast

Migrant shipwrecks and refugee death stories become repetitive quickly.

From The Daily Beast

There are videos and performances that often deal with representations of the human body through repetitive tasks.

From The Daily Beast

But apparently there are scoops of great magnitude to be gleaned from these repetitive pictures.

From The Daily Beast

We have filled the foreground in recent years with new automatic machines, new subdivisions of repetitive process.

From Project Gutenberg

It was no pretentious group of houses, nor was it a repetitive design out of some subdividing contractor's greedy mind.

From Project Gutenberg

We learn little or nothing from habit excepting repetitive imitation.

From Project Gutenberg

Others have the repetitive pattern of bushes, flowers, or the pear, on a field of rich colour.

From Project Gutenberg

The thing to do was to make the surface thoughts automatically repetitive.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• boring
• constant
• dull
• monotonous
• repeated