disjunctive

[ dis-juhngk-tiv ]

adjective

1. serving or tending to disjoin; separating; dividing; distinguishing.
2. Grammar.
   1. syntactically setting two or more expressions in opposition to each other, as but in poor but happy, or expressing an alternative, as or in this or that.
   2. not syntactically dependent upon some particular expression.
3. Logic.
   1. characterizing propositions that are disjunctions.
   2. (of a syllogism) containing at least one disjunctive proposition as a premise.

noun

1. a statement, course of action, etc., involving alternatives.
2. Logic. disjunction ( def 2a ).
3. Grammar. a disjunctive word.

disjunctive

/ dɪsˈdʒʌŋktɪv /

adjective

1. serving to disconnect or separate
2. grammar
   1. denoting a word, esp a conjunction, that serves to express opposition or contrast: but in the sentence She was poor but she was honest
   2. denoting an inflection of pronouns in some languages that is used alone or after a preposition, such as moi in French
3. Alsoalternative logic relating to, characterized by, or containing disjunction

noun

1. grammar
   1. a disjunctive word, esp a conjunction
   2. a disjunctive pronoun
2. logic a disjunctive proposition; disjunction

Derived Forms

• disˈjunctively, adverb

Other Words From

• dis·junctive·ly adverb
• nondis·junctive adjective
• nondis·junctive·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of disjunctive¹

1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin disjunctīvus placed in opposition, equivalent to Latin disjunct ( us ) ( disjunct ) + -īvus -ive

Example Sentences

Most of the later paintings come out of his pioneering silk-screen paintings from the early 1960s, with their disjunctive patchwork of magazine cutouts and his own photographs.

From New York Times

After finishing its last page, he is heard to murmur: “So elementary … inchoate … a disjunctive … patchwork.”

From Washington Post

By ignoring the text after the disjunctive, the sponsor has elided the fact that their bill applies to everyone, not just minors.

From Slate

This word is disjunctive, meaning it separates different things.

From Slate

Liberman began his career at the pioneering French photo magazine Vu, and later he brought to Vogue a disjunctive, highly graphic style that drew from the photomontages of Russian Constructivism.

From New York Times