objective

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noun

something that one's efforts or actions are intended to attain or accomplish; purpose; goal; target: the objective of a military attack; the objective of a fund-raising drive.

Grammar.

Also called objective case. (in English and some other languages) a case specialized for the use of a form as the object of a transitive verb or of a preposition, as him in The boy hit him, or me in He comes to me with his troubles.

a word in that case.

Also called object glass, object lens, objective lens. Optics. (in a telescope, microscope, camera, or other optical system) the lens or combination of lenses that first receives the rays from the object and forms the image in the focal plane of the eyepiece, as in a microscope, or on a plate or screen, as in a camera. See diag. under microscope.

adjective

being the object or goal of one's efforts or actions.

not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased: an objective opinion.

intent upon or dealing with things external to the mind rather than with thoughts or feelings, as a person or a book.

being the object of perception or thought; belonging to the object of thought rather than to the thinking subject ( opposed to subjective ).

of or pertaining to something that can be known, or to something that is an object or a part of an object; existing independent of thought or an observer as part of reality.

Grammar.

pertaining to the use of a form as the object of a transitive verb or of a preposition.

(in English and some other languages) noting the objective case.

similar to such a case in meaning.

(in case grammar) pertaining to the semantic role of a noun phrase that denotes something undergoing a change of state or bearing a neutral relation to the verb, as the rock in The rock moved or in The child threw the rock.

10.

being part of or pertaining to an object to be drawn: an objective plane.

11.

Medicine/Medical. (of a symptom) discernible to others as well as the patient.

Relevant Questions

00:10

Objective is an SAT word you need to know.

So is pecuniary. Does it mean:

financial, marketing, fiscal, budgetary, economic, monetary

keenly perceptive; clever

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Origin:
1610–20; < Medieval Latin objectīvus, equivalent to Latin object(us) (see object) + -īvus -ive

Related forms

ob·jec·tive·ly, adverb

ob·jec·tive·ness, noun

pre·ob·jec·tive, adjective

qua·si-ob·jec·tive, adjective

qua·si-ob·jec·tive·ly, adverb

sem·i·ob·jec·tive, adjective

sem·i·ob·jec·tive·ly, adverb

sem·i·ob·jec·tive·ness, noun

un·ob·jec·tive, adjective

un·ob·jec·tive·ly, adverb

Synonyms
1. object, destination, aim. 5. impartial, fair, impersonal, disinterested.

Antonyms
5. personal.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To objective

Collins

World English Dictionary

objective (əbˈdʒɛktɪv)

—*adj*
1.	existing independently of perception or an individual's conceptions: are there objective moral values?
2.	undistorted by emotion or personal bias
3.	of or relating to actual and external phenomena as opposed to thoughts, feelings, etc
4.	med (of disease symptoms) perceptible to persons other than the individual affected
5.	grammar See also accusative denoting a case of nouns and pronouns, esp in languages having only two cases, that is used to identify the direct object of a finite verb or preposition and for various other purposes. In English the objective case of pronouns is also used in many elliptical constructions (as in Poor me! Who, him?), as the subject of a gerund (as in It was me helping him), informally as a predicate complement (as in It's me), and in nonstandard use as part of a compound subject (as in John, Larry, and me went fishing)
6.	of, or relating to a goal or aim

—n
7.	the object of one's endeavours; goal; aim
8.	military Also called: objective point a place or position towards which forces are directed
9.	an actual phenomenon; reality
10.	grammar
	a. the objective case
	b. a word or speech element in the objective case
11.	optics Also called: object glass
	a. the lens or combination of lenses nearest to the object in an optical instrument
	b. the lens or combination of lenses forming the image in a camera or projector

objectival

—*adj*

ob'jectively

—*adv*

objec'tivity

—n

ob'jectiveness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

objective

1610s, originally in the philosophical sense of "considered in relation to its object" (opposite of subjective), formed on pattern of M.L. objectivus, from objectum "object" (see object (n.)). Meaning "impersonal, unbiased" is first found 1855, influenced by Ger. objektiv.

The noun is 1738, with sense of "something objective to the mind;" meaning "goal, aim" is first as a military term from the U.S. War Between the States, 1864 (in objective point), from Fr.; general use of it is first attested 1881.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

objective ob·jec·tive (əb-jěk'tĭv)
n.
The lens or lenses in the lower end of a microscope or other optical instrument that first receives light rays from the object being examined and forms its image. adj.

Based on observable phenomena; presented factually.
Indicating a symptom or condition perceived as a sign of disease by someone other than the person affected.

ob·jec'tive·ness n.

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

objective

(əb-jěk'tĭv) Pronunciation Key
The lens or mirror in a microscope or other optical instrument that first receives light rays from the object and forms the image.

Example sentences

In any case, your next objective is to land an interview.

The objective is to be the fastest to complete the course, skiing to the

shooting range and hitting as many targets as possible.

It can be a fine thing to have businesspeople in government, when the objective

is to recruit competence and expertise.

Another objective of the project is to find new proteins that can help in

turning plants into fuel.

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objective relativism objectivism objectivity oil-immersion objective predicate objective tolerance

Matching Quote

"Life, in my estimation, is a biological misadventure that we terminate on the shoulders of six strange men whose only objective is to make a hole in one with you."

-Fred Allen