descriptivist

[ dih-skrip-tuh-vist ]

noun

1. a writer, teacher, or supporter of descriptive grammar or descriptive linguistics.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or based on descriptive grammar or descriptive linguistics.

Other Words From

• de·scriptiv·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of descriptivist¹

First recorded in 1950–55; descriptive + -ist

Example Sentences

Some descriptivist linguists have argued that criticisms of “bad” grammar found in dialects like African-American Vernacular English perpetuate systemic racism.

From Seattle Times

Linguists these days are mostly descriptivist observers who hover somewhere outside the fickle language peeve fray.

From Slate

To behold a grammatical descriptivist at war with a grammatical prescriptivist who happens to be her twin is truly an uncommon pleasure.

From New York Times

“It seems that English speakers are increasingly finding useful the breadth in meaning and understanding that’s present in the term,” the Merriam-Webster descriptivist Emily Brewster says in an email.

From The Guardian

That end, please: you’re team descriptivist.

From The Guardian