suggestive
Americanadjective
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that suggests; referring to other thoughts, persons, etc..
His recommendation was suggestive of his boss's thinking.
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rich in suggestions or ideas.
a suggestive critical essay.
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evocative; presented partially rather than in detail.
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that suggests or implies something improper or indecent; risqué;
suggestive remarks.
adjective
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conveying a hint (of something)
this painting is suggestive of a hot summer day
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tending to suggest something improper or indecent
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able or liable to suggest an idea, plan, etc
Usage
What are other ways to say suggestive? Something that is suggestive refers to other thoughts or persons. Do you know when to use suggestive over its synonyms expressive, meaningful, and significant? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of suggestive
Explanation
The adjective suggestive is useful when one thing indicates or hints at something else. Your constant yawning, for example, is suggestive of how tired you are. Scientists and researchers often use the word suggestive to describe results that indicate a strong possibility of something without decisively proving it: "This is suggestive evidence of life on other planets." Sometimes, suggestive is used to describe something inappropriate or obscene: "Parents always think popular music's lyrics are too suggestive." This meaning came about in the late 1800's, more than two hundred years after suggestive first appeared in the language from the verb suggest.
Vocabulary lists containing suggestive
Darius the Great Is Not Okay
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What If It's Us
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Last Night at the Telegraph Club
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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.
That resonant final phrase is suggestive rather than precise.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
That implies a more than $25 billion exiting run rate of capex by the end of the year, which they “characterize as runaway, unsustainable, and highly suggestive of an advisable equity capital raise.”
From MarketWatch • Apr. 24, 2026
While this doesn’t mean dividends are unsustainable, “it nonetheless is suggestive of strains,” the firm added.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
To be clear, the evidence linking GLP-1 agonists to gastroparesis and pancreatitis is suggestive, not definitive.
From Slate • Mar. 22, 2026
Let me end, then, with a couple of additional bad inferences which are further suggestive of the role that innumeracy—in the guise of fallacious logic—plays in pseudoscience.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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.
