iterative
Americanadjective
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repeating; making repetition; repetitious.
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relating to or noting a development strategy that involves a cyclical process of refining or tweaking the latest version or iteration of a product, process, or idea to make a subsequent version: The new restaurant finalized their menu after a year of diner feedback and iterative improvements.
Website design is highly iterative.
The new restaurant finalized their menu after a year of diner feedback and iterative improvements.
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Grammar. frequentative.
adjective
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repetitious or frequent
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maths logic another word for recursive See recursive
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grammar another word for frequentative
Other Word Forms
- iteratively adverb
- iterativeness noun
- uniterative adjective
Etymology
Origin of iterative
First recorded in 1450–1500; from Late Latin iterātīvum (verbum) “frequentative (verb).” See iterate, -ive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In that, Rawlinson said he saw a rare chance to rethink how cars were created, eschewing traditional processes that he saw as simply iterative of what had come before.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
"Nowadays, we can use iterative computer programs to generate the same effect -- and we can complement this with exact mathematical formulas used in complex analysis."
From Science Daily • Jan. 7, 2026
The lean startup method is an “approach emphasizing rapid experimentation, iterative development, and data-driven decision making.”
From MarketWatch • Nov. 5, 2025
The pitch from them both amounted to arguing that they are assembling what they see as a careful set of thoughtful, workable, iterative steps forward on asylum policy.
From BBC • Sep. 2, 2025
The imitative and the iterative alike, that which adds nothing to the object and that which adds nothing to the experience of the beholder, though once pleasing, now fail to satisfy.
From The Enjoyment of Art by Noyes, Carleton Eldredge
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
