operative
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Having the power of acting.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ahperuhtivSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɑpɚətɪv
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
Functional, in working order.
Having the power of acting; hence, exerting force, physical or moral; active in the production of effects.
Effectual or important.
Producing the appropriate or designed effect; efficacious.
Based upon, or consisting of, a surgical operation or operations. [from 18th c.]
noun
An employee or other worker with some particular function or skill.
A spy, secret agent, or detective.
A participant in an operation.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Having the power of acting; hence, exerting force, physical or moral; active in the production of effects.
Used this way, operative is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in ethics or values contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Ethics/values
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use operative
- “Operative regulations.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Of or relating to a function or functions.
Functioning and ready for use.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A symbol or function representing a mathematical operation.
Related to Functional, in working order.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The area that is open during surgery.
A republic in northeastern South America.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Antonyms
Sense: functional or in working order
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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.