performative

American  

[per-fawr-muh-tiv] / pərˈfɔr mə tɪv /

adjective

1. Philosophy, Linguistics. (of an expression or statement) performing an act by the very fact of being uttered, as with the expression “I promise,” that performs the act of promising.

2. relating to the performance of behaviors associated with a particular social role or identity.

   He reflects on his mother's performative femininity, remembering the times he witnessed her adorning herself with eyeshadow, bracelets, and belts.

3. relating to ways of behaving that exhibit a socially acceptable belief, trait, or quality, often making a superficial impression.

   Performative wokeness enables privileged people to reap the social benefits of wokeness without actually undertaking the necessary legwork to combat inequality.

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noun

1. a performative utterance.

performative British  

/ pəˈfɔːmətɪv /

adjective

1. 1. denoting an utterance that constitutes some act, esp the act described by the verb. For example, I confess that I was there is itself a confession, and so is performative in the narrower sense, while I'd like you to meet … (effecting an introduction) is performative only in the looser sense See also locutionary act illocution perlocution

   2. ( as noun )

      that sentence is a performative

2. 1. denoting a verb that may be used as the main verb in such an utterance

   2. ( as noun )

      ``promise'' is a performative

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Other Word Forms

• performatively adverb

Etymology

Origin of performative

First recorded in 1950–55; perform + -ative

Example Sentences

Sparkling and rebarbative, abrasive and relentlessly performative, it is, in other words, classic Will Self.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

“The climate now is that people are very drawn by the performative approaches,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 8, 2026

He takes this kind of performative way of doing politics, which was already somehow in the temper of the U.S. in the late 1880s, and he brought it to France.

From Slate • Mar. 2, 2026

Jared Keeso stars in this “Letterkenny” spinoff satirizing performative masculinity among a small-town Canadian hockey team.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 27, 2026

I could see now that there was a performative piece to politics that I hadn’t yet fully mastered.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama