Indicative

//ɪnˈdɪk.ə.tɪv// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1
The indicative mood. uncountable
2
a mood (grammatically unmarked) that represents the act or state as an objective fact wordnet
3
A term in the indicative mood. countable
"The fact that imperative forms were taken into English as indicatives suggests that the English speakers using the Hindustani verbs were most familiar (in some cases perhaps only familiar) with the imperative form."

Adjective

1
Serving as a sign, indication or suggestion of something.
"He had pains indicative of a heart attack."
2
Of, or relating to the indicative mood.

Adjective

1
(usually followed by ‘of’) pointing out or revealing clearly wordnet
2
relating to the mood of verbs that is used simple in declarative statements wordnet

Synonyms

significative absolute adducible admissible allegorical allusive

Example

"A high forehead is indicative of great mental power."

Etymology

From Middle French indicatif, from Late Latin indicātīvus. By surface analysis, indicate + -ive.

Related phrases

imperfect indicative indicative conditional indicative planning indicative vote present indicative indicative mood

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