supportive
Americanadjective
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giving support.
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providing sympathy or encouragement.
His family was supportive of his attempts to be a writer.
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providing additional help, information, etc.; auxiliary.
manufacturers of supportive materials.
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Medicine/Medical. helping to maintain a normal physiological balance, as by the intravenous administration of required nutriment.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of supportive
Explanation
To be supportive is to give help or assistance, or to hold something or someone up. If your parents are supportive of your dreams to become a chef, they might enroll you in cooking classes. Supportive is a snuggly word. Anything that supports you, or embraces you and holds you up is supportive. It can be physically supportive, like a girdle that holds your belly in, or emotionally supportive like a loving family or solid network of friends. A parent paying for a child's college bills is supportive financially. Things can be supportive, too — posts holding up a building are supportive. Being supportive is a good thing.
Vocabulary lists containing supportive
Dear Martin
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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.
Social Work Scotland, the profession's leadership body, is broadly supportive of the government's proposals, if extra resources are put in place.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
No one knows, but when technical breakouts align with supportive macro fundamentals and powerful flow dynamics, trends can often extend much further than many expect, he adds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Despite it not being the career trajectory they’d expected for their daughter, Zainab says her parents are now "so supportive".
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
She remains in intensive care, receiving oxygen therapy and supportive treatment, the center said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Emma had been born into the carefree, happy, supportive Wedgwood family on May 2,1808.
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
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.
