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suggestive

[suh g-jes-tiv, suh-]
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adjective
  1. that suggests; referring to other thoughts, persons, etc.: His recommendation was suggestive of his boss's thinking.
  2. rich in suggestions or ideas: a suggestive critical essay.
  3. evocative; presented partially rather than in detail.
  4. that suggests or implies something improper or indecent; risqué: suggestive remarks.
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Origin of suggestive

First recorded in 1625–35; suggest + -ive
Related formssug·ges·tive·ly, adverbsug·ges·tive·ness, nounnon·sug·ges·tive, adjectivenon·sug·ges·tive·ly, adverbnon·sug·ges·tive·ness, nounpre·sug·ges·tive, adjectiveun·sug·ges·tive, adjectiveun·sug·ges·tive·ly, adverbun·sug·ges·tive·ness, noun

Synonyms

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1. See expressive.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for suggestively

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Phil jingled them suggestively, and kept on into the restaurant.

  • "While we speculate the dinner cools," said Miss Maddledock suggestively.

  • "If you mention me in dispatches," Bones went on suggestively.

    Bones

    Edgar Wallace

  • "I suppose my trunk is somewhere else," she said suggestively.

    Jewel

    Clara Louise Burnham

  • "Unless we're going out to the stable," she said suggestively.

    Jewel

    Clara Louise Burnham

British Dictionary definitions for suggestively

suggestive

adjective
  1. (postpositive foll by of) conveying a hint (of something)this painting is suggestive of a hot summer day
  2. tending to suggest something improper or indecent
  3. able or liable to suggest an idea, plan, etc
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Derived Formssuggestively, adverbsuggestiveness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for suggestively

suggestive

adj.

1630s, "conveying a hint," from suggest + -ive. Specifically as a faintly euphemistic reference to proposals of indecent behavior, from 1888. Related: Suggestively; suggestiveness.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper