adjective
Other Word Forms
- nonretentive adjective
- nonretentively adverb
- nonretentiveness noun
- retentively adverb
- retentiveness noun
- unretentive adjective
- unretentively adverb
- unretentiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of retentive
1325–75; Middle English retentif < Middle French < Medieval Latin retentīvus, equivalent to Latin retent ( us ) ( see retention) + -īvus -ive
Explanation
If something is retentive, it is able to hold something else, so be glad if you have a retentive mind and grab a sponge if you need something retentive to sop up water. Retentive is closely related to the word retain. Both come from the Latin retinere, which means "to hold back." If you are a farmer, it's good to know how water-retentive your soil is, or how much water it can hold and store. How much information can your brain hold and store? For someone with a retentive mind or memory or eye, it's quite a lot!
Vocabulary lists containing retentive
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Black Boy
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In March 2024, with the biotech company’s share price down around 80% from the date of the equity grant, Guardant’s board concluded that the award “no longer offered meaningful financial or retentive value.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 17, 2026
His was the most nimble and retentive mind I’ve ever worked with closely over time.
From New York Times • Jul. 3, 2022
Alas! with all her reasonings, she found that to retentive feelings eight years may be little more than nothing.
From Slate • Feb. 13, 2021
As I got older, my mind shed some of its retentive powers.
From The Guardian • Jan. 28, 2020
Bree memories being retentive, Frodo was asked many times if he had written his book.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
