comparative
Syllables: com·par·a·tive/kəmˈpæɹətɪv/UK/kəmˈpæɹətɪv/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
comparative adjective: of or relating to comparison.
Adjective
comparative (comparative more comparative, superlative most comparative)
- Of or relating to comparison.
- He gave us a comparative example to illustrate how the human mind works.
- that kind of animals that have the comparative faculty, by which they compare things together, deliberate and resolve.1773, James Burnett, Of the Origin and Progress of Language
- Using comparison as a method of study, or founded on something using it.
- A comparative study between Homo Sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis.
- comparative anatomy
- Approximated by comparison; relative.
- I've passed the test with comparative ease.
- The Olympics, the weather and a comparative lack of heavyweight clashes so far this season have been cited as reasons for the drop in viewers.2016 October 24, Owen Gibson, “Is the unthinkable happening – are people finally switching the football off?”, in The Guardian, London
- Comparable; bearing comparison.
- And need he had of slumber yet, for none / Had suffered more—his hardships were comparative / To those related in my grand-dad's Narrative.1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.137
Noun
comparative (plural comparatives)
- The degree of comparison of an adjective or adverb used when comparing two entities in terms of a certain property or a certain way of doing something. In English, the comparative of superiority is formed by adding the suffix -er or the word more (e.g. bigger, more fully); the comparative of equality, by adding the word as (e.g. as big, as fully); the comparative of inferiority, by adding the word less (e.g. less big, less fully).
- Synonyms:
- comparative degree
- An adjective or adverb in the comparative degree.
- Data used to make a comparison.
- Investment ratios are positive. Comparative or trend data are required to draw final conclusions. The absence of comparatives and trend data constrains the conclusions.2010, Barry Smith, Introductory Financial Accounting and Reporting, page 171
- An equal; a rival; a compeer.
- Gerrard ever was / His full comparative.c. 1608–1613, Nathan Field, John Fletcher, “Four Playes, or Morall Representations, in One”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published...
- One who makes comparisons; one who affects wit.
- Every beardless vain comparative.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
comparative meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Malayalam
comparative in Hindi
- comparative
- तुलनात्मक tulanātmak
comparative in Tamil
- ஒப்பீடு, ஒப்பீடு சார்ந்த, ஒப்பு நோக்கான, ஒப்பு நோக்கு
comparative in Bengali
- using comparison as a method of study
- তুলনামূলক tulnamulok
comparative in Malayalam
- സാപേക്ഷം, താരതമ്യേന, തുല്യമായി ഗണിക്കപ്പെട്ട, ആപേക്ഷികം
More languagesFewer languages
- comparative in Kannada
- ಹೋಲಿಕೆಯ, ತರಭಾವ, ತರರೂಪ, ಇಬ್ಬರ ಹೋಲಿಕೆಯ ರೂಪ
- comparative in Tagalog
- hambingin, pahambing
- comparative in Arabic
- دَرَجَة نِسْبِيَّة
- comparative in Indonesian
- komparatif, perbandingan, pelebihan, pembanding
- comparative in Persian
- تفضیلی, تطبیقی, صفت برتر sefat-e bartar
- comparative in Vietnamese
- cấp so sánh
Examples of comparative in a sentence
- The recurrence of comparative warmth and cold.1837, William Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences:
- This bubble, […] by reason of its comparative levity to the fluid that encloses it, would necessarily ascend to the top.1692, Richard Bentley, A Confutation of Atheism:
Synonyms of comparative
Forms of comparative
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more comparative |
| superlative | most comparative |
| Noun | |
| plural | comparatives |
Origin of comparative
From Middle English comparatif, from Middle French comparatif, from Latin comparātīvus, equivalent to comparātus, from comparāre (“to compare”) + -ive, from Latin -īvus.
Words formed from comparative
- comparative advantage
- comparative anatomy
- comparative case
- comparative clause
- comparative degree
- comparative ethics
- comparative illusion
- comparative linguist
- comparative linguistics
- comparative literature
- comparative method
- comparative superlative
- comparatist
- comparatively
- comparativeness
- comparativism
- comparativist
- comparativistic
- macrocomparative
- noncomparative
- absolute comparative
- comparative of equality
- comparative of inferiority
- comparative of superiority
Phrases with comparative
Questions about comparative
- What does comparative mean?
- Comparative means of or relating to comparison.
- What is comparative in Hindi?
- Comparative in Hindi is तुलनात्मक (tulanātmak). See Comparative meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use comparative in a sentence?
- The recurrence of comparative warmth and cold.
- What part of speech is comparative?
- Comparative can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce comparative?
- Comparative is pronounced /kəmˈpæɹətɪv/ (UK).
Words near comparative in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: comparative (page history and authors); तुलनात्मक (Hindi) (page history and authors); comparative (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); comparative (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); comparative (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-ne-comparative.ogg, En-us-comparative.ogg.
Cite this entry: “comparative.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/comparative. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.