Meaning & use
inventively
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Meaning
adverb
in a way that shows original and creative thinking.
Grammar: Modifies a verb or an adjective: solved the problem inventively; inventively designed.
Patterns
- think inventively
- solve something inventively
- inventively designed
The team solved the budget problem inventively by sharing resources with another department.
She writes inventively, mixing everyday speech with surprising images.
The tiny apartment was inventively arranged to make room for a study corner.
Common combinations
- think inventively
- Good teachers encourage students to think inventively.
- inventively designed
- The chair is inventively designed to fold into a small box.
- solve a problem inventively
- They solved the delivery problem inventively.
- use something inventively
- The artist used old bottles inventively in the sculpture.
Synonyms and how they differ
- creatively
- Creatively is the closest synonym and is more common; inventively emphasizes producing something new rather than just artistic expression.
- ingeniously
- Ingeniously suggests clever, skillful solutions, often with a touch of surprise; inventively focuses on originality.
- originally
- Originally can mean 'at first' or 'in a new way'; inventively never means 'at first'.
Opposites
Word family
- inventive adjective
- good at thinking of new ideas; original
- invent verb
- to design or create something that did not exist before
- invention noun
- a new thing or idea that someone has created
- inventiveness noun
- the quality of being able to create new things or ideas
Commonly confused: inventively or inventively vs. inventively?
inventively vs inventively vs. inventively
Make sure to spell it with -ive- in the middle: in-ven-tive-ly, not 'inventivly' or 'inventively' with a missing e.
Practice
Which sentence uses inventively correctly?
Choose one answer.
Inventively is an adverb, so it describes how she solved the puzzle. Option 0 uses it after is, where an adjective like inventive is needed; option 2 uses an adverb before a noun, where the adjective inventive belongs; option 3 places the adverb awkwardly and changes the intended meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “inventively”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.