inductive
adjective
Simple meaning
Of, or about logical induction, by generalizing a universal claim or principle from the observed particular instances.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihnduhktivSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪnˈdʌktɪv
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
physics
Of, relating to, or arising from inductance.
Influencing; tending to induce or cause.
logic
Of, or relating to logical induction, by generalizing a universal claim or principle from the observed particular instances.
Introductory or preparatory.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Of, relating to, or arising from inductance.
Used this way, inductive 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.
- 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 inductive
- “Inductive reactance.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
An electrical device (typically a conducting coil) that introduces inductance into a circuit.
An electrical phenomenon whereby an electromotive force (EMF) is generated in a closed circuit by a change in the flow of current.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Reasoning from detailed facts to general principles.
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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.