separative

/ˈsɛp(ə)ɹətɪv/

separative adjective: serving to separate.

Adjective

separative (comparative more separative, superlative most separative)

Serving to separate.
- […] that much more full and eminent Experiment of the Separative Virtue of extream Cold, that was made, against their Wills, by the […] Dutch men that Winter’d in Nova Zembla;1661, Robert Boyle, The Sceptical Chymist, London: J. Crooke, Part 1, pp. 98-99
- We have hitherto only observed the colouring substance itself, we ought now to consider the preparation of the ground which receives it: to inquire how it comes that every object hath this separative power over the particles of light; how it imbibes one colour, while it copiously reflects another?1776, Oliver Goldsmith, A Survey of Experimental Philosophy, London: T. Carnan and F. Newbery, Volume 2, Book 3, Chapter 10, p. 364
(rare) Tending to keep oneself separate from others.
- Pye had never forgotten or forgiven the ingenious fraud. It had taught him secretiveness, made him even more lone and separative. He had withdrawn from the world of men, academic and otherwise.1935, Warwick Deeping, “In a Little Belgian Town”, in Two in a Train and Other Stories
- I was working hard, and living a rather separative existence, without realizing at the time what this aloofness meant for me.1938, Warwick Deeping, chapter 13, in Malice of Men, New York: Knopf

separative (plural separatives)

Something that serves to separate.
- […] as for the distance between [the roads], it varies according to the strength of the army and the nature of the ground, the essential point being not to leave between them obstacles acting as separatives, such as rivers, &c.1853, A. F. Lendy, The Principles of War, London: Parker, Furnivall, and Parker, “Strategy,” Chapter 4, p. 117
- He […] independently identified the oblique wedge as a separative of words [in cuneiform writing] […]1916, Lewis Spence, chapter 1, in Myths and Legends of Babylonia and Assyria, London: Harrap, page 62

பிரிந்து வேறாகும் பாங்குடைய

The spirit of the synagogue is essentially separative.1823, Charles Lamb, “Imperfect Sympathies”, in Essays of Elia, Paris: Baudry’s European Library, published 1835, page 68:
He resolved to be delicate but wily, honourable, strictly honourable, but steadily, patiently separative.1915, H. G. Wells, Bealby: A Holiday, London: Methuen, Chapter 8, § 1, p. 306:

Latin separativus.

What does separative mean?: Separative means serving to separate.
What is separative in Tamil?: Separative in Tamil is பிரிந்து வேறாகும் பாங்குடைய. See Separative meaning in Tamil.
How do you use separative in a sentence?: The spirit of the synagogue is essentially separative.
What part of speech is separative?: Separative can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce separative?: Separative is pronounced /ˈsɛp(ə)ɹətɪv/.

Adapted from Wiktionary: separative (page history and authors); separative (Tamil 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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “separative.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/separative. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.