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Like an apparently strict musical form it breaks the five minute whole into its structural parts - a descriptive preamble, the action of taking the cards, the development of the cards' manipulation and the revelation of what has been achieved.
Gavin Bryars

Meaning of "descriptive" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

PRONUNCIATION OF DESCRIPTIVE

descriptive  [dɪˈskrɪptɪv] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF DESCRIPTIVE

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Descriptive is an adjective.
The adjective is the word that accompanies the noun to determine or qualify it.

WHAT DOES DESCRIPTIVE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

descriptive

Linguistic description

In the study of language, description, or descriptive linguistics, is the work of objectively analyzing and describing how language is spoken by a group of people in a speech community. All scholarly research in linguistics is descriptive; like all other sciences, its aim is to observe the linguistic world as it is, without the bias of preconceived ideas about how it ought to be. Modern descriptive linguistics is based on a structural approach to language, as exemplified in the work of Leonard Bloomfield and others. Linguistic description is often contrasted with linguistic prescription, which is found especially in education and in publishing. Prescription seeks to define standard language forms and give advice on effective language use, and can be thought of as a presentation of the fruits of descriptive research in a learnable form, though it also draws on more subjective aspects of language aesthetics. Prescription and description are complementary, but have different priorities and sometimes are seen to be in conflict. Descriptivism is the belief that description is more significant or important to teach, study, and practice than prescription.

Definition of descriptive in the English dictionary

The first definition of descriptive in the dictionary is characterized by or containing description; serving to describe. Other definition of descriptive is serving to describe the referent of the noun modified, as for example the adjective brown as contrasted with my and former. Descriptive is also relating to or based upon description or classification rather than explanation or prescription.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH DESCRIPTIVE


adaptive
əˈdæptɪv
adoptive
əˈdɒptɪv
adsorptive
ədˈsɔːptɪv
ascriptive
əˈskrɪptɪv
captive
ˈkæptɪv
circumscriptive
ˌsɜːkəmˈskrɪptɪv
contraceptive
ˌkɒntrəˈsɛptɪv
deceptive
dɪˈsɛptɪv
disruptive
dɪsˈrʌptɪv
inscriptive
ɪnˈskrɪptɪv
nociceptive
ˌnəʊsɪˈsɛptɪv
nondescriptive
ˌnɒndɪˈskrɪptɪv
perceptive
pəˈsɛptɪv
prescriptive
prɪˈskrɪptɪv
presumptive
prɪˈzʌmptɪv
proprioceptive
ˌprəʊprɪəˈsɛptɪv
proscriptive
prəʊˈskrɪptɪv
receptive
rɪˈsɛptɪv
subscriptive
sʌbˈskrɪptɪv
transcriptive
trænsˈkrɪptɪv

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE DESCRIPTIVE

descramble
descrambler
describable
describe
describer
descried
descrier
descries
description
descriptive geometry
descriptive linguistics
descriptive metaphysics
descriptive notation
descriptive statistics
descriptively
descriptiveness
descriptivism
descriptivist
descriptor
descrive

WORDS THAT END LIKE DESCRIPTIVE

active
assumptive
conceptive
consumptive
corruptive
eruptive
exemptive
exteroceptive
heir presumptive
inceptive
interceptive
interoceptive
interruptive
maladaptive
nonadaptive
pre-emptive
redemptive
resorptive
sorptive
transumptive
unreceptive

Synonyms and antonyms of descriptive in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «DESCRIPTIVE»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «descriptive» and belong to the same grammatical category.
synonyms of descriptive

Translation of «descriptive» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF DESCRIPTIVE

Find out the translation of descriptive to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of descriptive from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «descriptive» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

描述的
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

descriptivo
570 millions of speakers

English

descriptive
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

वर्णनात्मक
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

صفية
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

описательный
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

descritivo
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

বর্ণনামূলক
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

descriptif
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Deskriptif
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

deskriptiv
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

記述的
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

기술적인
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Deskriptif
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

mô tả
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

விளக்க
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

वर्णनात्मक
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

tanımlayıcı
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

descrittivo
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

opisowe
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

описовий
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

descriptiv
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

περιγραφικό
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

beskrywende
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

beskrivande
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

beskrivende
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of descriptive

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «DESCRIPTIVE»

The term «descriptive» is very widely used and occupies the 14.249 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Very widely used
94
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «descriptive» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of descriptive
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «descriptive».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «DESCRIPTIVE» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «descriptive» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «descriptive» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about descriptive

EXAMPLES

10 QUOTES WITH «DESCRIPTIVE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word descriptive.
1
Ian Anderson
If you're gonna use simile, analogy, metaphor, be descriptive and have some flowery adjectives and a few odd nouns and some engaging bits of dialogue or sentiment, then you're sort of writing a novel, really. But rock lyrics are not really known for their sophistication.
2
Louise Brooks
The great art of films does not consist of descriptive movement of face and body but in the movements of thought and soul transmitted in a kind of intense isolation.
3
Gavin Bryars
Like an apparently strict musical form it breaks the five minute whole into its structural parts - a descriptive preamble, the action of taking the cards, the development of the cards' manipulation and the revelation of what has been achieved.
4
Robert Delaunay
If Art relates itself to an Object, it becomes descriptive, divisionist, literary.
5
Brian Eno
I wouldn't call myself a synaesthete in the sense that Nabokov was. But I'll talk about a sound as being cold blue or dark brown. For descriptive purposes, yes, I often see colors when I'm listening to music and think, 'Oh, there's not enough sort of yellowy stuff in here, or not enough white.'
6
Lisa Gardner
I'm not the most detailed writer. I have a tendency to be more action-oriented vs. descriptive.
7
Eric Gill
Science is analytical, descriptive, informative. Man does not live by bread alone, but by science he attempts to do so. Hence the deadliness of all that is purely scientific.
8
Ernst Haas
Without touching my subject I want to come to the moment when, through pure concentration of seeing, the composed picture becomes more made than taken. Without a descriptive caption to justify its existence, it will speak for itself - less descriptive, more creative; less informative, more suggestive - less prose, more poetry.
9
Marilyn Hacker
Of the individual poems, some are more lyric and some are more descriptive or narrative. Each poem is fixed in a moment. All those moments written or read together take on the movement and architecture of a narrative.
10
Richard Harmon
One of the greatest things about 'Continuum' is how great the writing is; our writing room is one of the most talented ones I've ever had. It really helps me as far as character development because they paint a very descriptive picture of who the characters are while still letting us have freedom to put in our own ideas.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «DESCRIPTIVE»

Discover the use of descriptive in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to descriptive and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Descriptive Translation Studies--and Beyond
A replacement of the author's well-known book on Translation Theory, In Search of a Theory of Translation (1980), this book makes a case for Descriptive Translation Studies as a scholarly activity as well as a branch of the discipline, ...
Gideon Toury, 2012
2
Beyond Descriptive Translation Studies: Investigations in ...
To go _beyond_ the work of a leading intellectual is rarely an unambiguous tribute.
Anthony Pym, Miriam Shlesinger, Daniel Simeoni, 2008
3
Descriptive Writing
Writing 4 consists of 4 Worktexts and 4 Teacher's Notes- designed for writing practice with incremental teaching methods, basic grammar review pages and real-world themes.
Emily Hutchinson, 2005
4
Descriptive Complexity
This book is a relatively self-contained introduction to the subject, which includes the necessary background material, as well as numerous examples and exercises.
Neil Immerman, 1999
5
Descriptive Physical Oceanography: An Introduction
The 6e of Descriptive Physical Oceanography provides an introduction to descriptive physical oceanography for advanced undergraduates and graduate students.
Lynne D. Talley, George L. Pickard, William J. Emery, 2011
6
Applied Descriptive Geometry
Excellent for engineering and technology students, this text goes far beyond instruction in standard orthographic projection to clarify all the tools of descriptive geometry--and how they apply to individual fields.
Kathryn Holliday-Darr, 1998
7
Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical
A complete unabridged edition of Gray's anatomy, with descriptions and illustrations of human anatomy.
Henry Gray, Thomas Pickering Pick, Robert Howden, 1974
8
Roget's Descriptive Word Finder
Ideal for fiction and poetry writers, teachers, journalists, students, and copywriters, Roget's Descriptive Word Finder enables you to search topic-by-topic to find that "just right" word or phrase.
Barbara Kipfer, 2003
9
Descriptive Inorganic, Coordination, and Solid State Chemistry
Written in a conversational prose style that is enjoyable and easy to understand, this book presents not only the basic theories and methods of inorganic chemistry (in three self-standing sections), but also a great deal of the history and ...
Glen Rodgers, 2011
10
A Descriptive Grammar of Nepali and an Analyzed Corpus
A Descriptive Grammar of Nepali uses the theoretical framework developed by K.L. Pike.
Jayaraj Acharya, 1991

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «DESCRIPTIVE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term descriptive is used in the context of the following news items.
1
This software startup could spice up your e-commerce results
That means marketing teams basically are stuck managing multiple catalogs of descriptive content—including text, videos and ... «Fortune, Jul 15»
2
Judging By The Insane Promotional Video, Rob Gronkowski's Three …
Sold? No? Ok, watch El Gronko's rather descriptive promo, rife with wah wah wah wahs and 145 BPM fist-pumping baselines, below. «SportsGrid, Jul 15»
3
Evangelicals' obsession with “sexual purity” has nothing to do with sex
All this to say, when I use the term “fear-based rhetoric” this is not pejorative, but descriptive of the deliberate strategies used by the ... «Salon, Jul 15»
4
Be honest. We all make snap judgments
Almost every employer has a descriptive wish list for their future employees they have to keep secret for fear of offending or upsetting. If we are ... «The Mercury, Jul 15»
5
Share this Story:
Indeed: descriptive, infectious, lush and languid—sounds like our favorite 'hood, all right. 27. “West Side Girl,” Bilal, 2013 This stunner from A ... «PW-Philadelphia Weekly, Jul 15»
6
Why Website Redesigns Make You So Angry
Search has been improved so that you can search for terms more descriptive of the food you're trying to eat, like "vegan" or "gluten-free. «Gizmodo India, Jul 15»
7
Reagan's gift of Kennedy
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has now established the standard for that descriptive. It's weeks like these that should inspire ... «NUVO Newsweekly, Jul 15»
8
Ancient Ocean
Branches of his own richly descriptive personal experience and some choice guest inclusions are interspersed throughout the record, which ... «The Quietus, Jul 15»
9
Book review: 'Mania' is a thrilling adventure and satisfying end to YA …
The torture Parker experiences is more mental and body pain, it doesn't include any descriptive gore. Tara Creel, Deseret News Tara Creel is a ... «Daily American Online, Jul 15»
10
Community-based navigators for tobacco cessation treatment: a …
Descriptive statistics and primary endpoints were calculated using standard techniques for proportions, means, and medians, with non-normal ... «BMC Blogs Network, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Descriptive [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/descriptive>. Apr 2024 ».
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