Descriptive
/dɪˈskrɪptɪv/
Definitions
Serving or intending to describe something or to give details about it.
/dɪˈskrɪptɪv/
Giving details about something; depicting
The artist created a descriptive painting of the landscape.
💡 Simply: Imagine you're trying to tell a friend about a really cool thing you saw. Descriptive words are like the colors you use to paint a picture with your words. They help you show, not just tell, what something is like. For example, instead of saying 'The car was red,' you could say 'The fiery red sports car zoomed down the street.' See how that helps you *see* it?
👶 For kids: When you use descriptive words, you are telling someone what something is like. Like if you say "The fluffy white cat", you are describing the cat!
More Examples
She gave a descriptive account of her trip to the museum.
The manual provided descriptive instructions for setting up the software.
The teacher asked the students to write a descriptive essay about their favorite animal.
How It's Used
"The author used descriptive language to paint a vivid picture of the setting."
"The research provided a descriptive analysis of the survey results."
"Can you be more descriptive about what he looked like?"
From Latin *dēscrīptus*, past participle of *dēscrībere* ('to describe'), from *dē-* ('down, about') + *scrībere* ('to write'). The word entered English in the 16th century.
Used extensively in literature and the sciences since the 17th and 18th centuries, with the rise of empiricism.
Memory tip
Think of a detailed 'script' that helps you 'describe' something to someone.