supportive

American  

[suh-pawr-tiv, -pohr-] / səˈpɔr tɪv, -ˈpoʊr- /

adjective

1. giving support.

2. providing sympathy or encouragement.

   His family was supportive of his attempts to be a writer.

3. providing additional help, information, etc.; auxiliary.

   manufacturers of supportive materials.

4. Medicine/Medical. helping to maintain a normal physiological balance, as by the intravenous administration of required nutriment.

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supportive British  

/ səˈpɔːtɪv /

adjective

1. providing support, esp moral or emotional support

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Other Word Forms

• nonsupportive
  adjective
• supportively
  adverb
• supportiveness
  noun
• unsupportive
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of supportive

First recorded in 1585–95; support + -ive

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.

Example Sentences

Supportive factors include strong household spending, resilient labor market, steady private and public investments, healthy tourism and solid electronics exports, it reckons.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026

Supportive EU regulation and incoming German legislation will both increase demand for sustainable aviation fuel and support prices, the analysts write.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 15, 2025

An estimated 8,300 people are living homeless in San Francisco, about half of them sleeping in parks and on sidewalks in makeshift shelters, according to the city Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 24, 2024

Last year in March, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing sent letters demanding the nonprofit come into compliance after the department received complaints from foundation workers about wage theft, nepotism, mismanagement and other deficiencies.

From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2024

Supportive services provide housing and access to preventative medical care, nutrition, mental health care, medication monitoring, substance addiction services, life skills, and career development.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 23, 2024