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To say that gender is performative is a little different because for something to be performative means that it produces a series of effects. We act and walk and speak and talk in ways that consolidate an impression of being a man or being a woman.
Judith Butler

Meaning of "performative" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

PRONUNCIATION OF PERFORMATIVE

performative  [pəˈfɔːmətɪv] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF PERFORMATIVE

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

WHAT DOES PERFORMATIVE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Performative utterance

Performative utterances are defined in the speech acts theory as sentences which are not only passively describing a given reality, but they are changing the reality they are describing. J. L. Austin originally assumed that stating something and performing an illocutionary act are mutually exclusive.

Definition of performative in the English dictionary

The definition of performative in the dictionary is denoting a verb that may be used as the main verb in such an utterance.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH PERFORMATIVE


affirmative
əˈfɜːmətɪv
amalgamative
əˈmælɡəmətɪv
amative
ˈæmətɪv
calmative
ˈkælmətɪv
confirmative
kənˈfɜːmətɪv
consummative
kənˈsʌmətɪv
deformative
dɪˈfɔːmətɪv
desquamative
dɪˈskwæmətɪv
estimative
ˈestɪmətɪv
exclamative
ɪksˈklæmətɪv
formative
ˈfɔːmətɪv
gemmative
ˈdʒɛmətɪv
informative
ɪnˈfɔːmətɪv
nonnormative
ˌnɒnˈnɔːmətɪv
normative
ˈnɔːmətɪv
preformative
priːˈfɔːmətɪv
reformative
rɪˈfɔːmətɪv
summative
ˈsʌmətɪv
transformative
trænsˈfɔːmətɪv
uninformative
ˌʌnɪnˈfɔːmətɪv

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE PERFORMATIVE

performability
performable
performance
performance anxiety
performance appraisal
performance art
performance artist
performance bond
performance bonus
performance car
performance drugs
performance figures
performance indicator
performance targets
performance test
performance-enhancing drug
performance-related pay
performatively
performatory
performer

WORDS THAT END LIKE PERFORMATIVE

active
administrative
alternative
collaborative
comparative
conservative
cooperative
creative
decorative
derivative
in the negative
initiative
innovative
legislative
narrative
native
negative
operative
quantitative
relative
representative

Synonyms and antonyms of performative in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «performative» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF PERFORMATIVE

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

Translator English - Chinese

表演
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

performativo
570 millions of speakers

English

performative
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

क्रियात्मक
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

الأدائي
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

перформативное
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

performativa
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

performative
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

performative
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Prestasi
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

performativ
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

遂行的な
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

수행 적
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Performatif
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

trình diễn
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

பெர்ஃபார்மேடிவ்
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

कार्यशाळा
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

performatif
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

performativo
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

performatywny
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

перформативне
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

performativ
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

επιτελεστική
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

performatiewe
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

performative
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

performative
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of performative

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «PERFORMATIVE»

The term «performative» is regularly used and occupies the 68.444 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Regularly used
68
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «performative» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of performative
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «performative».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «PERFORMATIVE» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «performative» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «performative» 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 performative

EXAMPLES

6 QUOTES WITH «PERFORMATIVE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word performative.
1
Judith Butler
We act as if that being of a man or that being of a woman is actually an internal reality or something that is simply true about us, a fact about us, but actually it's a phenomenon that is being produced all the time and reproduced all the time, so to say gender is performative is to say that nobody really is a gender from the start.
2
Judith Butler
To say that gender is performative is a little different because for something to be performative means that it produces a series of effects. We act and walk and speak and talk in ways that consolidate an impression of being a man or being a woman.
3
Zoe Lister-Jones
Most actors and actresses are performative as people.
4
Robert Pinsky
Poetry is a vocal art for me - but not necessarily a performative one. It might be reading to oneself or recalling some lines by memory.
5
Laura Wade
I was the family alien. Both my parents are quite creative, but I was... appalling... always putting on little shows. I was rather a shy child, not a natural performer, but there was a performative edge to everything I did.
6
Irvine Welsh
I wanted to capture the excitement of house music, almost like a four-four beat, and the best way to do that was to use a language that was rhythmic and performative.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «PERFORMATIVE»

Discover the use of performative in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to performative and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Art Beyond Representation: The Performative Power of the Image
Refuting the assumption that art is a representational practice, Bolt's striking argument engages with the work of Heidegger, Deleuze and Guattari, C.S.Peirce and Judith Butler to argue for a performative relationship between art and artist ...
Barbara Bolt, 2004
2
Introducing Performative Pragmatics
Drawing on a wide spectrum of research and theory from the past thirty years in particular, Douglas Robinson presents a combination of 'action-oriented approaches' from sources such as J.L. Austin, H. Paul Grice, Harold Garfinkel and Erving ...
Douglas Robinson, 2013
3
Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative
Negotiating the work of Austin, Derrida and Bourdieu, Butler offers a theory of the political performativity of language and illuminates the efficacy of injurious language.
Judith Butler, 1997
4
Judson Dance Theater: Performative Traces
First Published in 2006. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Ramsay Burt, 2006
5
Performative Politics and the Cultures of Hinduism: Public ...
A comprehensive study of public uses of religion in Western India.
Raminder Kaur, 2003
6
Performative democracy
The book argues that performative democracy, with its improvisational mode and imaginative solutions, deserves a legitimate place in our broader reflections on democracy.
Elżbieta Matynia, 2009
7
Playing with Purpose: Adventures in Performative Social Science
Mary M. and Kenneth J. Gergen make a strong case for enriching the social sciences through performative work, establishing a framework for performative research and including many of their own performance works.
Mary M Gergen, Kenneth J Gergen, 2012
8
Performative Realism: Interdisciplinary Studies in Art and Media
This book scrutinises a range of contemporary works that experiment with viewer participation and processuality within art and culture, as well as it takes issue with theories of performativity and performance.
Rune Gade, Anne Jerslev, 2005
9
Meaning and Force: The Pragmatics of Performative Utterances
Its point of departure is a refutation of two views central to the work of speech-act theorists such as Austin & Searle: that speech acts are essentially conventional, & that the force of an utterance can be made fully explicit at the level ...
François Récanati, 1987
10
Aspects of the Performative in Medieval Culture
The volume assesses performative structures within a variety of medieval forms of textuality, from vernacular literature to records of parliamentary proceedings, from prayer books to musical composition.
Manuele Gragnolati, Almut Suerbaum, 2010

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «PERFORMATIVE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term performative is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Amish community shares way of life at Splendour in the Grass
... festival goers are able to mingle and interact with a performative community of Amish men and women whether it be through a game of bocce ... «Northern Star, Jul 15»
2
Style Rider: Talking Fashion With Infamously Naked Punk Band No …
Given the nature of their crotch-kicking tracks like “I'm a Dildo” and “Dick City,” you can see where performative nudity and the spirit of their ... «Noisey, Jul 15»
3
Theater Review: Preludes
Matias is called “Rach” in the program; he is the performative half of the main character. The psychological half is embodied by Gabriel Ebert, ... «Vulture, Jul 15»
4
Legalize Drugs and Murder With Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats New …
Where Uncle Acid diverges, however, is in the serpentine, Sabbathian delivery and utter lack of theatrical pomp, the yin to Ghost's performative ... «Noisey, Jul 15»
5
Rose Gibbs :Jenner and Gender Performativity
The celebration of Caitlyn Jenner's transition to womanhood is evidence of a now widespread acceptance that gender is performative, rather ... «Huffington Post UK, Jul 15»
6
Art that cuts across borders: Top 5 artists from Pakistan whose work …
... his medium and format is similarly mercurial, stretching from video to collage, performative photography, painting and charcoal drawing. «India Today, Jul 15»
7
Why Donald Trump Truly Terrifies Republicans
But by stitching together all the performative qualities Republicans have nurtured on the right over the years—pomp and property worship, ... «The New Republic, Jul 15»
8
Everything is Teeth by Evie Wyld; Illustration by Joe Sumner, book …
The humility is of the real, truthful kind, not the performative version that has given rise to, say, the term "humblebragging". How did she do it? «The Independent, Jul 15»
9
'Phoenix': An Unconventional Noir About Two Troubled Pasts
For all its realist veneer, Phoenix is as stylized and performative as the singers in the Cabaret-like nightclub where Johnny now works as a ... «WFDD, Jul 15»
10
Modernism Reloaded: Hadid, Libeskind, and Tschumi Riff off a Le …
Tschumi's contribution dwells on architecture's performative role, proposing an eclectic expansion of the villa's curatorial program while leaving ... «Metropolis Magazine, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Performative [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/performative>. Jun 2026 ».
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