adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   That reacts or responds to a stimulus.
2. 2
   That readily takes part in reactions.

   "francium is the most reactive of the alkali metals."

3. 3
   Characterized by induction or capacitance rather than resistance.
4. 4
   Reacting to the past rather than anticipating the future, not predictive.

Adjective

1. 1
   participating readily in reactions wordnet
2. 2
   reacting to a stimulus wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

activatedantagonisticemptiveemptivelabileoxidizable

Antonyms

All antonyms

nonreactivepredictiveproactiveunreactive

Example

More examples

"Mary's realisation that she was gay plunged her into a reactive depression."

Etymology

From react + -ive.

Related phrases

C-reactive proteinover-reactivereactive armorreactive armourreactive arthritisreactive attachment disorderreactive centrereactive depressionreactive distillationreactive dyereactive homeostasisreactive hyperemia

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