definitive
/dɪˈfɪn.ɪ.tɪv/US/dɪˈfɪn.ə.tɪv/
definitive adjective: explicitly defined.
Adjective
definitive (comparative more definitive, superlative most definitive)
- Explicitly defined.
- Determining finally, conclusive, decisive.
- definitive vote
- She will have the definitive say in the matter, after consulting her board of directors.
- Definite, authoritative and complete.
- A strict and definitive truth.1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC
- Some definitive […] scheme of reconciliation.1838, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: American Stationers’ Company; John B....
- Limiting; determining.
- a definitive word
- General, not issued for commemorative purposes.
- Determined; resolved.
- Never crave him. We are definitive.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
Noun
definitive (plural definitives)
- a word, such as a definite article or demonstrative pronoun, that defines or limits something
- an ordinary postage stamp that is part of a series of all denominations or is reprinted as needed to meet demand
- Synonyms:
- definitive stamp
definitive meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
definitive in Hindi
- conclusive or decisive
- निश्चयात्मक niścayātmak
definitive in Tamil
- உறுதிப் பத்திரம், உறுதியான
definitive in Urdu
- definitive, imperative, peremptory
- قطعی qatʿī
definitive in Bengali
- চূড়ান্ত, অকাট্য
More languagesFewer languages
- definitive in Telugu
- నిశ్చయాత్మకమైనది, నిశ్చయాత్మకమైన
- definitive in Malayalam
- നിശ്ചിതം, നിർണ്ണായകം, അന്തിമം, അവച്ഛിന്ന
Examples of definitive in a sentence
- A year in the making, the following is the definitive documentary on the issue.
- Until now there has been no definitive anatomical study describing the area where the parotid duct enters the buccinator muscle.
- Cats are the definitive host of Toxoplasma gondii.
Synonyms of definitive
- definitive stamp
Forms of definitive
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more definitive |
| superlative | most definitive |
| Noun | |
| plural | definitives |
Origin of definitive
From Middle French définitif.
Words formed from definitive
Phrases with definitive
Questions about definitive
- What does definitive mean?
- Definitive means explicitly defined.
- What is definitive in Hindi?
- Definitive in Hindi is निश्चयात्मक (niścayātmak). See Definitive meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is definitive?
- Definitive can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce definitive?
- Definitive is pronounced /dɪˈfɪn.ɪ.tɪv/ (UK).
Words near definitive in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: definitive (page history and authors); definitive (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); قطعی (Urdu) (page history and authors); Definitive (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); definitive (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); definitive (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-definitive.wav.
Cite this entry: “definitive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/definitive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.