significative

[sig-nif-i-key-tiv]

adjective

1. serving to signify.

2. significant; suggestive.

Other Word Forms

• significatively adverb
• significativeness noun
• nonsignificative adjective
• unsignificative adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of significative¹

1350–1400; Middle English (< Old French significatif, significative ) < Late Latin significātīvus denoting, equivalent to Latin significāt ( us ) (past participle of significāre to make a sign; signify, -ate ¹ ) + -īvus -ive

Example Sentences

The second class may be termed significative, being imposed to distinguish their bearers from others by some quality.

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Beside the very significative absence of real violence, the persistent effort you made to hide facts accuses you.

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"I have it from very good authority," replied Cloten, with a significative wink of the eye towards that part of the room where Emily was standing in conversation with Helen.

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Experience, as memory and literature rehearse it, remains nearer to us than that: it is something dreamful, passionate, dramatic, and significative.

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These also are no less frequent and significative.

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Related Words

• hidden 
• implicit 
• indirect 
• latent 
• lurking 
• tacit 
• unspoken