responsive

[ri-spon-siv]

adjective

1. responding especially readily and sympathetically to appeals, efforts, influences, etc..

   a responsive government.

   Synonyms: sympathetic, understanding, receptive

2. Physiology.,  acting in response, as to some stimulus.

3. characterized by the use of responses.

   responsive worship.

responsive

/ rɪˈspɒnsɪv /

adjective

1. reacting or replying quickly or favourably, as to a suggestion, initiative, etc

2. (of an organism) reacting to a stimulus

Other Word Forms

• responsively adverb
• responsiveness noun
• hyperresponsive adjective
• hyperresponsively adverb
• hyperresponsiveness noun
• nonresponsive adjective
• nonresponsively adverb
• quasi-responsive adjective
• quasi-responsively adverb
• unresponsive adjective
• unresponsively adverb
• unresponsiveness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of responsive¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English word from Late Latin word respōnsīvus. See response, -ive

Example Sentences

There was no fallback plan — just a willingness to be vulnerable and responsive.

From Los Angeles Times

Media companies have proven responsive in the past to pressure from outside activists, said Anthony Nadler, a professor of media and communications at Ursinus College in Philadelphia.

From BBC

Their cancers are more often tied to lifestyle - tobacco and alcohol drive lung and oral cancers, both aggressive and less responsive to treatment.

From BBC

“You could imagine a case where they’re just less responsive to sourness in general,” Hayes said.

From Salon

It illustrates the great promise of a messy, fledgling democracy striving to achieve a certain kind of equality and to establish a new form of government responsive to the will of its people.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• active 
• aware 
• compassionate 
• conscious 
• reactive 
• receptive 
• sensible 
• sensitive 
• susceptible 
• sympathetic