descriptive
adjective
de·scrip·tive
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Definition of descriptive
1
: presenting observations about the characteristics of someone or something : serving to describe
a descriptive account
2a
: referring to, constituting, or grounded in matters of observation or experience
the descriptive basis of science
b
: factually grounded or informative rather than normative, prescriptive, or emotive
descriptive cultural studies
3 of a modifier
a
: expressing the quality, kind, or condition of what is denoted by the modified term
hot in "hot water" is a descriptive adjective
b
: nonrestrictive
4
linguistics
: of, relating to, or dealing with the structure of a language at a particular time usually with exclusion of historical and comparative data
descriptive linguistics
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Examples of descriptive in a Sentence
She gave a descriptive account of the journey.
a talent for descriptive writing
a poem full of descriptive detail
The black cat was given the descriptive name âMidnight.â
The book is a descriptive grammar.
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Recent Examples on the Web
Like all the most successful slurs, the term embodies both descriptive power and judgment. — Jamie Lauren Keiles, Vox, "How the JAP became Americaâs most complex Jewish stereotype.," 5 Dec. 2018 In the bidding, North could have responded 1NT, a more descriptive call than one diamond. — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, "Bridge: July 23, 2019," 23 July 2019 The voice is chatty, descriptive but not judgmental. — Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, "âIs There Still Sex in the City?â and the Decline of a Particular Fantasy Life," 13 Aug. 2019 The officer relays descriptive information about the vehicle and how the driver is using the phone, and uniformed officers pull the car over. — Christine Dempsey, courant.com, "Connecticut police will look for distracted drivers this weekend," 31 July 2019 Gone were the myriad descriptive action types (e.g. free, standard, move, attack, etc.), and Paizo replaced those instead with a three-action turn for each participant in an encounter round (player characters and baddies alike). — Sam Ferguson, Ars Technica, "How to follow-up Pathfinder? Improve the game, donât radically change its character," 30 July 2019 In this telling, Delanyâs self-descriptive language had been shaped by the scant literature about homosexuality heâd been exposed toâthe scant literature that had been available. — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Tracing the Internal Queer Revolution," 26 June 2019 Maughanâs job was to flesh out those futures in a series of descriptive sketches. — Rose Eveleth, WIRED, "Can Sci-Fi Writers Prepare Us for an Uncertain Future?," 12 July 2019 Most are content to offer a descriptive account of how morality works, remaining silent on whether morality can be prescriptive. — Julian Baggini, WSJ, "âScience and the Goodâ Review: The Anatomy of Morality," 15 Jan. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'descriptive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for descriptive
descriptive
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of descriptive
: giving information about how something or someone looks, sounds, etc. : using words to describe what something or someone is like
technical
: providing facts about how a language is actually used rather than rules that tell people how it should be used
See the full definition for descriptive in the English Language Learners Dictionary
descriptive
adjective
de·scrip·tive
| \ di-Ëskrip-tiv
\
\
Kids Definition of descriptive
: giving information about what something is like
She wrote a very descriptive letter about her trip.
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