Meaning & use

invasive

adjective·Academic

Tending to spread aggressively and cause harm, or involving entry into the body through surgery.

See it in a sentence

The lake is now overrun by an invasive fish species that outcompetes native fish.

Doctors preferred a less invasive procedure that avoided a large surgical incision.

A note on using this word

Invasive describes both harmful spreading species in ecology and procedures that penetrate the body in medicine.

Words with a similar meaning

aggressiveintrusive

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

nativenoninvasive

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