Inventive

//ɪnˈvɛntɪv// adj

adj ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of, or relating to invention; pertaining to the act of devising new mechanisms or processes.

    "an inventive pursuit"

  2. 2
    Possessed of a particular capacity for the design of new mechanisms or processes, creative or skilful at inventing.

    "an inventive fellow"

  3. 3
    Purposely fictive.

    "an inventive story"

Adjective
  1. 1
    (used of persons or artifacts) marked by independence and creativity in thought or action wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
creativeimaginativeabecedarianaboriginalacuteantenatal

Example

More examples

"Edison was an inventive genius of the United States."

Etymology

From Middle English inventif, inventyfe, borrowed from Old French inventif, borrowed from Medieval Latin inventivus. By surface analysis, invent + -ive.

More for "inventive"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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