Vegetative

//ˈvɛd͡ʒəteɪtɪv// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or relating to plants; especially to their growth.
  2. 2
    Of or relating to functions such as growth, nutrition and asexual reproduction rather than sexual reproduction.

    "In Lejeuneaceae vegetative branches normally originate from the basiscopic basal portion of a lateral segment half, as in the Radulaceae, and the associated leaves, therefore, are quite unmodified."

  3. 3
    Physically inactive.
  4. 4
    Of a state of impaired brain function, where a person can respond to some stimuli but is incapable of voluntary acts.
Adjective
  1. 1
    (of reproduction) characterized by asexual processes wordnet
  2. 2
    relating to involuntary bodily functions wordnet
  3. 3
    of or relating to an activity that is passive and monotonous wordnet
  4. 4
    composed of vegetation or plants wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
apatheticbenumbedblaseboredbotanicbotanical

Example

More examples

"It may be objected that humans, as opposed to animals, have intelligence, and therefore have the right not to be experimented upon. However, many humans, such as the mentally disabled, those in vegetative states, or babies, either have no intelligence or limited intelligence, and yet no one is arguing they should be subjected to involuntary, damaging experiments."

Etymology

From Middle French végétatif, from Medieval Latin vegetativus, from past participle stem of vegetare.

Related phrases

persistive vegetative statevegetative cellvegetative nervous systemasexual reproductionbrain deadpersistent vegetative statesexual reproduction

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