Words ending in -ive
-ive means tending to, having the nature of. It comes from Latin.
furtive — tending to steal away
20 words on this site end with -ive
- Abortive
failing to accomplish an intended result
- Conducive
tending to bring about; being partly responsible for
- Cumulative
increasing by successive addition
- Definitive
supplying or being a final or conclusive settlement
- Derivative
the result of mathematical differentiation; the instantaneous change of one quantity relative to another; df(x)/dx
- Effusive
uttered with unrestrained enthusiasm
- Exhaustive
performed comprehensively and completely
- Figurative
(used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech
- Impassive
having or revealing little emotion or sensibility; not easily aroused or excited; ; - Nordhoff & Hall; -Virginia Woolf
- Incisive
having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
- Introspective
given to examining own sensory and perceptual experiences
- Objective
emphasizing or expressing things as perceived without distortion of personal feelings, insertion of fictional matter, or interpretation
- Pensive
deeply or seriously thoughtful
- Prohibitive
tending to discourage (especially of prices)
- Reclusive
withdrawn from society; seeking solitude
- Regressive
(of taxes) adjusted so that the rate decreases as the amount of income increases
- Restive
impatient especially under restriction or delay
- Speculative
not financially safe or secure
- Submissive
inclined or willing to submit to orders or wishes of others or showing such inclination
- Subversive
a radical supporter of political or social revolution
Other words with -ive
Not part of our word list, but they carry the same suffix — useful for recognising it in the wild.
abusive · connive · missive · pensive · restive · stative · tensive · abortive · effusive · incisive · solutive · tractive · conducive · impassive · iterative · objective · probative · reclusive · summative · cumulative · definitive · derivative · exhaustive · figurative · regressive · submissive · subversive · prohibitive · speculative