descriptive

American  

[dih-skrip-tiv] / dɪˈskrɪp tɪv /

adjective

1. having the quality of describing; characterized by description.

   a descriptive passage in an essay.

2. Grammar.

   1. (of an adjective or other modifier) expressing a quality of the word it modifies, as fresh in fresh milk.

   2. (of a clause) nonrestrictive.

3. noting, concerned with, or based upon the fact or experience.

4. characterized by or based upon the classification and description of material in a given field.

   descriptive botany.

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descriptive British  

/ dɪˈskrɪptɪv /

adjective

1. characterized by or containing description; serving to describe

2. grammar (of an adjective) serving to describe the referent of the noun modified, as for example the adjective brown as contrasted with my and former

3. relating to or based upon description or classification rather than explanation or prescription

   descriptive linguistics

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Other Word Forms

• descriptively adverb
• descriptiveness noun
• nondescriptive adjective
• nondescriptively adverb
• nondescriptiveness noun
• overdescriptive adjective
• overdescriptively adverb
• overdescriptiveness noun
• self-descriptive adjective
• undescriptive adjective
• undescriptively adverb
• undescriptiveness noun

Etymology

Origin of descriptive

1745–55; < Late Latin dēscrīptīvus, equivalent to Latin dēscrīpt ( us ) ( see description) + -īvus -ive

Explanation

Descriptive language is vivid and specific, and helps someone imagine a scene he didn't witness. You probably hope that your friend who works at the morgue isn't too descriptive when you ask him how his day was. The word descriptive comes from the Latin descript-, meaning "written down." Something that is descriptive uses an account of words to give us a sense of what it's like. We usually use descriptive when people are very effective at conveying something. James Agee is an author who excels at descriptive writing, spending pages and pages beautifully describing the scene of a poor cabin in the moonlight.

Example Sentences

In their fiction—mostly novels for Woolf, short stories for Mansfield—they experimented by replacing linear narrative and descriptive detail with suggestion and symbolism.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

Easily accessible generative artificial intelligence tools, such as Google's Veo and OpenAI's Sora, enable the creation of realistic imagery using just a few descriptive words.

From Barron's • Jan. 29, 2026

By quantifying that threshold, ALFA-K turns genome doubling from a descriptive observation into a predictable evolutionary event.

From Science Daily • Jan. 26, 2026

“For a long time, captions have been made by hearing people,” says Stern, who collaborated with d/Deaf/hard-of-hearing artist and filmmaker Alison O’Daniel, whose 2023 documentary “The Tuba Thieves” reimagined closed captioning as a descriptive playground.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2025

Line has traditionally been admired for its descriptive value, so that its expressive potential is easily overlooked.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson

Related Words

• definitive
• detailed
• eloquent
• expressive
• identifying
• illuminating
• pictorial
• revealing
• vivid