confederative

American  

[kuhn-fed-uh-rey-tiv, -er-uh-tiv, -fed-ruh-] / kənˈfɛd əˌreɪ tɪv, -ər ə tɪv, -ˈfɛd rə- /

adjective

1. pertaining to or characteristic of a confederation.

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Other Word Forms

• anticonfederative adjective

Etymology

Origin of confederative

First recorded in 1810–20; confederate + -ive

Example Sentences

His arguments for what he calls a "confederative union state" sound increasingly irrelevant, as the former Soviet republics move further apart with growing speed in establishing their political and economic independence.

From Time Magazine Archive

And the round-table discussions last Thursday between party officials and opposition figures produced a call for a "new relationship" with West Germany based on "confederative structures."

From Time Magazine Archive

To allay fears that Gorbachev might be acting as his front man for a resurgent Russia, Yeltsin promised that his gargantuan republic would not dominate any confederative structure.

From Time Magazine Archive

I thought that in 1990 we would have a contractual or treaty-based community with East Germany, that in 1991 or 1992 we would have confederative structures.

From Time Magazine Archive

In default of a confederative system, the several states were held in equilibrium by diplomacy.

From New Italian sketches by Symonds, John Addington