His formative years were very unhappy.
Source: tatoeba (5276634)
Formative
//ˈfɔːmətɪv//
Synonyms for "formative" (159 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (32)
Strong matches (48)
Related words (79)
inflectioninitialinitiativeinitiatoryinstitutiveintegralintegrantintroductoryinventivelike puttylimberlissomelithelithesomemalleablemoldablemorphmorphememorphemic analysismorphemics
Show 54 more words
morphologymorphophonemicsmorphoticnascentnataloccasionaloriginaloriginativeparadigmparturientpivotalplasticpliablepliantpostnatalprefixprefixationpregnantprenatalprimalprimaryprimeprimevalprimitiveprimogenialprocliticprocreativeproductiveradicalreceptiveresponsiverootrudimentalrudimentaryseminalsensitivesequaciousshapablespringystemsubmissivesuffixsuffixationsupplesusceptiblethemetractabletractileurwhippywillowyword formationword-formationyielding
Noun(1 words)
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
2 entriesMore specific
1 entriesRelated terms
2 entriescoordinate
1 entriesderived
9 entrieshas context
3 entriesis a
1 entriesrelated to
10 entriessimilar
2 entriesTranslations
44 translations across 15 languages.
Catalan
2 entries- formatiu adj (capable of forming something)
- formatiu adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
Czech
1 entries- formant noun (language unit that has a morphological function)
Finnish
4 entries- formatiivinen adj (pertaining to the formation of words)
- formatiivinen adj (of a form of assessment: used to guide learning rather than to quantify educational outcomes)
- kasvu adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
- kehitys adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
French
4 entries- formateur adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
- formatif adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
- formans noun (language unit that has a morphological function)
- formant noun (language unit that has a morphological function)
Georgian
1 entries- წარმომქმნელი adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
German
3 entries- bildend adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
- Formans noun (language unit that has a morphological function)
- Formativ noun (language unit that has a morphological function)
Indonesian
4 entries- formatif adj (capable of forming something)
- formatif adj (pertaining to the formation of words)
- formatif adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
- formatif adj (of a form of assessment: used to guide learning rather than to quantify educational outcomes)
Italian
2 entries- formativo adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
- formatore adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
Latin
1 entries- operātīvus adj (capable of forming something)
Polish
3 entries- twórczy adj (capable of forming something)
- twórczy adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
- formant noun (language unit that has a morphological function)
Romanian
1 entries- formativ adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
Russian
4 entries- образова́тельный adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
- словообразующий adj (pertaining to the formation of words)
- форма́нт noun (language unit that has a morphological function)
- формати́в noun (language unit that has a morphological function)
Serbo-Croatian
2 entries- fòrmant noun (language unit that has a morphological function)
- фо̀рмант noun (language unit that has a morphological function)
Spanish
3 entries- formador adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
- formativo adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
- formante noun (language unit that has a morphological function)
Swedish
1 entries- formativ adj (of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something)
Sample sentences
8 total sentences available.
It was in Algiers that he spent the formative years of his life.
Source: tatoeba (8248030)
The study finds one in four young women aged 15 to 24 are violently abused by an intimate partner. WHO officials said this is of particular concern as it is during this formative age that healthy relationships are made.
Source: tatoeba (9834502)
WHO officials said this is of particular concern as it is during this formative age that healthy relationships are made.
Source: tatoeba (11585859)
Showing 4 of 8 available sentences.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.