facultative
adjective
Simple meaning
Related to one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fakuhltaytivSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfækəlteɪtɪv
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
biology
Able to exist under more than one set of conditions
“A facultative parasite can exist as a parasite or a saprophyte.”
Not obligate; optional, discretionary or elective.
biology
Able to perform a particular life function, or to live generally, in more than one way.
That grants permission or power to do something.
Of or relating to faculty, especially to mental faculty.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Able to exist under more than one set of conditions
Used this way, facultative is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
“A facultative parasite can exist as a parasite or a saprophyte.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use facultative
- “A facultative parasite can exist as a parasite or a saprophyte.”adjective
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.