What does "emotive" mean?

A word or construct that expresses an emotion.

Emotive

Common synonyms include: affectional, affecting, affectional, affective, affective, demonstrative.

//ɪˈmoʊtɪv// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

Adjective

1
Of or relating to emotion.
2
Appealing to the emotions.
"He was the kind of man to whom some human object for pouring out his heart upon—were it emotive or were it choleric—was almost a necessity."
3
Expressing an emotion.

Adjective

"He was the kind of man to whom some human object for pouring out his heart upon—were it emotive or were it choleric—was almost a necessity."

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