Adaptive

//əˈdæp.tɪv// adj

adj ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of, pertaining to, characterized by or showing adaptation; making or made fit or suitable.

    "The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it issued a final rule allowing what’s called “adaptive driving beam headlights” on new vehicles. It will go into effect when published in the Federal Register in the next few days."

  2. 2
    Capable of being adapted or of adapting; susceptible of or undergoing accordant change.
  3. 3
    Of a trait: that helps an organism to function well in its environment.
  4. 4
    Of a trait: that helps a person to function well in society.
Adjective
  1. 1
    having a capacity for adaptation wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
accommodatingaccommodativeacquiescentadaptableadaptableadaptational

Example

More examples

"Climate change impacts will increase the total costs to the Nation’s transportation systems and their users, but these impacts can be reduced through rerouting, mode change, and a wide range of adaptive actions."

Etymology

From adapt + -ive.

Related phrases

adaptive beamformeradaptive behaviouradaptive bridgeadaptive clothingadaptive codingadaptive communicationsadaptive compressionadaptive controladaptive cruise controladaptive enzymeadaptive equalizationadaptive expectations

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.