Meaning & use
creative
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Using imagination or original ideas to make or do something new, artistic, useful, or effective.
Grammar: Can stand before a noun or after a linking verb: a creative solution; be creative; compare with more creative.
Patterns
- a creative idea
- be creative
- creative with something
The team found a creative way to reduce waste.
She is creative in the kitchen and rarely follows recipes exactly.
Children need time to be creative without fear of mistakes.
nouncountableinformalbusiness
A person whose job is to produce ideas or designs, especially in advertising, media, or the arts.
Grammar: Countable and informal: the creatives on a project; not used for every person who is merely imaginative.
Patterns
- a creative
- hire creatives
- the creative team
The agency brought in extra creatives for the campaign.
A designer, copywriter, and video editor all count as creatives.
The creative pitched three concepts before lunch.
Word forms
| comparative | more creative |
|---|---|
| superlative | most creative |
Common combinations
- creative thinking
- Creative thinking helped solve the scheduling problem.
- creative writing
- She teaches creative writing on weekends.
- creative solution
- We need a creative solution, not more money.
- get creative
- When ingredients ran low, he got creative.
Synonyms and how they differ
- imaginative
- Imaginative stresses seeing beyond the obvious; creative adds making or producing something from that imagination.
- innovative
- Innovative emphasizes new methods or inventions, often practical, while creative can be artistic or everyday.
- artistic
- Artistic is narrower and tied to art; creative includes practical problem-solving.
Opposites
Word family
- create verb
- To bring something into existence.
- creation noun
- The act of creating or something created.
- creativity noun
- The ability to produce original ideas.
- creatively adverb
- In an imaginative or original way.
- creator noun
- A person who creates something.
Commonly confused: creative or created?
creative vs created
Created is the past form of create; creative is the adjective describing imagination or originality.
Practice
Choose the best sentence.
Choose one answer.
A creative fix means an imaginative solution. The other options misuse creative as a person in the wrong context, as an object being solved, or as a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “creative”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.