expressive

[ ik-spres-iv ]
See synonyms for expressive on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. full of expression; meaningful: an expressive shrug.

  2. serving to express; indicative of power to express: a look expressive of gratitude.

  1. of, relating to, or concerned with expression: Dance is a highly expressive art.

  2. Sociology. (of a crowd or group) engaging in nonpurposeful activity of an expressive and often rhythmic nature, as weeping, dancing, or shouting.: Compare active (def. 15), orgiastic (def. 3).

  3. Linguistics. of or relating to forms in which sounds denote a semantic field directly and nonarbitrarily, through sound symbolism based, to some degree, on synesthesia, as observable in onomatopoeia, rhyming and gradational compounds, and emotionally charged words such as hypocoristics and pejoratives.

Origin of expressive

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French; see express, -ive

synonym study For expressive

See eloquent.

Other words from expressive

  • ex·pres·sive·ly, adverb
  • ex·pres·sive·ness, noun
  • an·ti·ex·pres·sive, adjective
  • an·ti·ex·pres·sive·ly, adverb
  • an·ti·ex·pres·sive·ness, noun
  • non·ex·pres·sive, adjective
  • non·ex·pres·sive·ly, adverb
  • non·ex·pres·sive·ness, noun
  • o·ver·ex·pres·sive, adjective
  • o·ver·ex·pres·sive·ly, adverb
  • o·ver·ex·pres·sive·ness, noun
  • pre·ex·pres·sive, adjective
  • su·per·ex·pres·sive, adjective
  • su·per·ex·pres·sive·ly, adverb
  • su·per·ex·pres·sive·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use expressive in a sentence

  • I shall always use this word “Veil” to signify the even portion of a wall, it being more expressive than the term Body.

  • It is shared to some extent by the lower classes; but their mouths tend to be wider and more expressive.

    Letters from America | Rupert Brooke

British Dictionary definitions for expressive

expressive

/ (ɪkˈsprɛsɪv) /


adjective
  1. of, involving, or full of expression

  2. (postpositive foll by of) indicative or suggestive (of): a look expressive of love

  1. having a particular meaning, feeling, or force; significant

Derived forms of expressive

  • expressively, adverb
  • expressiveness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012