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Synonyms

privative

American  
[priv-uh-tiv] / ˈprɪv ə tɪv /

adjective

  1. causing, or tending to cause, deprivation.

  2. consisting in or characterized by the taking away, loss, or lack of something.

  3. Grammar. indicating negation or absence.

noun

  1. Grammar. a privative element, as a- in asymmetric.

  2. something that is deprived.

privative British  
/ ˈprɪvətɪv /

adjective

  1. causing privation

  2. expressing lack or negation, as for example the English suffix -less and prefix un-

  3. obsolete logic (of a proposition) that predicates a logical privation

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • privatively adverb

Etymology

Origin of privative

1350–1400; Middle English privatif < Latin prīvātīvus. See private, -ive

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.