comparative
adjective
, -ˈpa-rə-\
Definition of comparative
(Entry 1 of 2)
comparative
nounDefinition of comparative (Entry 2 of 2)
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Synonyms & Antonyms for comparative
Synonyms: Adjective
almost, approximate, near, relative
Antonyms: Adjective
absolute, complete, downright, out-and-out, outright, perfect, pure, unqualified
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Examples of comparative in a Sentence
Adjective
She did a comparative study of classical and modern art. I'm taking a class in comparative anatomy. a comparative analysis of the roles of women in different cultures The comparative form of “happy” is “happier”; the comparative form of “good” is “better”; the comparative form of “clearly” is “more clearly.”Noun
“Taller” is the comparative of “tall.”
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
In 2013, the most recent year for which comparative figures exist, China outspent the US government on public funding of agricultural research more than twice over, pumping $10 billion into more than 1100 research institutions. — Megan Molteni, WIRED, "Crispr Can Help Solve Our Looming Food Crisis—Here's How," 8 Aug. 2019 Where Piper grew up in affluence and studied comparative literature at Smith, Taystee was raised in group homes and foster care, and first went to juvenile prison at the age of 16. — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, "The Ballad of Taystee Jefferson," 31 July 2019 Joe has a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from the University of California, Irvine, and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia Journalism School. — ProPublica, "ProPublica Data Institute 2019," 5 July 2019 Her book was one of the first works on comparative religions written by an American, and remarkable for its dispassionate consideration of non-Christian religions, including Islam. — Time Staff, Time, "15 Unsung Moments From American History That Historians Say You Should Know About," 28 June 2019 Bettmann via Getty Images Sharon Marcus is the Orlando Harriman professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University. — Sharon Marcus, Vox, "The first modern celebrity was born 175 years ago," 26 June 2019 This comparative advantage in reading is the primary reason why women are outnumbered by men in technical fields, according to a report published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. — Stephanie De Marco, Los Angeles Times, "Gender gap in STEM fields could be due to girls’ reading skills, not math ability," 25 July 2019 But there is advantage in being a smaller player with massive resources: greater ease than giant competitors to achieve the comparative growth investors demand. — Erik Sherman, Fortune, "Investors Give Goldman a Thumbs Up for Going Down Market," 22 July 2019 Our comparative study suggests some interesting things for other nations, particularly where there are developing and emerging economies. — James W Vaupel, Quartz, "How long can humans live?," 2 June 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Why this matters: Reports from an independent testing organization like AV-Comparatives are important for the average PC user. — Ian Paul, PCWorld, "AV-Comparatives' anti-phishing results for 2017 put Avast, Bitdefender, Fortinet, and Kaspersky on top," 1 Aug. 2017 Other poll comparatives from March fell like dominoes. — David Paleologos, USA TODAY, "Paleologos on the poll: Replacing Obamacare is a sensitive 'Operation'," 29 June 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'comparative.' 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 comparative
comparative
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of comparative
(Entry 1 of 2)
comparative
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of comparative (Entry 2 of 2)
See the full definition for comparative in the English Language Learners Dictionary
comparative
adjective
\
Kids Definition of comparative
(Entry 1 of 2)