operative
Effectual or importantEffectual or important.
Recorded UK: Speaker: Vealhurl Recorder: Vealhurl, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
» An undercover operative infiltrated the organization.
darinmex · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRTranslations
5 languagesBy meaning 2
Examples
5 sentencesAn undercover operative infiltrated the organization.
Sami was an undercover police operative.
I am a post-operative transsexual woman.
Meaning
5 sensesEffectual or important.
He's usually in a good mood — the operative word there being "usually". Today was a disaster.
де́йственныйdéjstvennyj, эффекти́вныйeffektívnyj
Producing the appropriate or designed effect; efficacious.
an operative dose, rule, or penalty
effective; producing a desired effect
Based upon, or consisting of, a surgical operation or operations.
operative surgery
More meanings 2
Functional, in working order.
де́йствующийdéjstvujuščij, рабо́тающийrabótajuščij, рабо́чийrabóčij
Having the power of acting; hence, exerting force, physical or moral; active in the production of effects.
an operative motive
Origin
From Middle English operative, operatyfe, from Middle French operatif (modern French opéraFrom Middle English operative, operatyfe, from Middle French operatif (modern French opératif) or its etymon Latin operātīvus. By surface analysis, operate + -ive.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
more operative, most operative| Comparative | more operative Lesson |
|---|---|
| Superlative | most operative Lesson |
regular
Synonyms
4 synonyms- relating to or requiring or amenable to treatment by surgery especially as opposed to medicine:surgical
- (of e.g. a machine) performing or capable of performing:runningfunctionalworking
Antonyms
1 antonymsWord family
26 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.