intentive
/ɪnˈtɛntɪv/
intentive adjective: paying attention; attentive, heedful.
Adjective
intentive (comparative more intentive, superlative most intentive)
- Paying attention; attentive, heedful.
- the object is fine and accurate , it conduceth much to have the sense intentive and erect1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “III. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for...
- Intent (of the mind, thoughts etc.).
- To which whilest she lent her intentive mind, / He suddenly his net upon her threw […]1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
- Expressing intent.
Forms of intentive
| comparative | more intentive |
|---|---|
| superlative | most intentive |
| alternative form | ententive |
Origin of intentive
From Middle English ententif, borrowed from Old French ententif, from Late Latin intentīvus (“intensive”), from Latin intendō (“to intend, to attend”).
Words formed from intentive
Words that rhyme with intentive
Questions about intentive
- What does intentive mean?
- Intentive means paying attention; attentive, heedful.
- What part of speech is intentive?
- Intentive is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce intentive?
- Intentive is pronounced /ɪnˈtɛntɪv/.
Words near intentive in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: intentive (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-intentive.wav.
Cite this entry: “intentive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/intentive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.