Meaning & use
Descriptive
Last updated
serving to describe or give a detailed account of something, rather than making a judgment or prescribing rules.
See it in a sentence
The travel guide offers descriptive passages about each city's history and culture.
Linguists favor a descriptive approach, documenting how language is actually used rather than how it "should" be used.
A note on using this word
Often contrasted with "prescriptive," especially in linguistics and statistics, where it means recording observed facts rather than setting rules.
Words with a similar meaning
illustrativeexplanatorydetailed
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
prescriptivevague
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