legislative

adjective · noun

Simple meaning

Making, or having the power to make, a law or laws.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

lehjuhslaytiv

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlɛdʒəsleɪtɪv

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

Making, or having the power to make, a law or laws; lawmaking.

noun

That branch of government which is responsible for making, or having the power to make, a law or laws.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency: Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Making, or having the power to make, a law or laws; lawmaking.

Used this way, legislative is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.

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

Law/legal
Government/politics
Academic 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 legislative

“Legislative council.”adjective

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

legislative authoritylegislative actionlegislative committee

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

legislatornounPerson or profession
Someone who makes or enacts laws.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

legislative branchnounCompound term
The branch of the United States government that has the power of legislating.
legislative councilnounCompound term
A unicameral legislature.
legislative assemblynounCompound term
Persons who make or amend or repeal laws.
legislative actnounCompound term
An act passed by a legislative body.
legislative bodynounCompound term
Persons who make or amend or repeal laws.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

legislationnounRelated term
Law enacted by a legislative body.

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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.