Meaning & use
probative
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivecomparablelegal
Giving real support to a claim or helping to establish whether something is true, especially when talking about evidence.
Grammar: Usually placed before a noun or after be: probative evidence, the photo was highly probative.
Patterns
- probative value
- probative of something
- highly probative
The judge ruled that the old letter had little probative value.
DNA results are strongly probative in a case like this.
Her testimony was probative of the defendant's whereabouts that night.
Common combinations
- probative value
- The lawyer argued that the video had high probative value.
- probative evidence
- Only probative evidence may be shown to the jury.
- highly probative
- The fingerprints were highly probative.
- probative force
- Rumors carry no probative force in court.
- outweigh the probative value
- The risk of prejudice outweighed the probative value of the photographs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- conclusive
- Conclusive means evidence settles the matter completely, whereas probative only means it helps prove something.
- relevant
- Relevant means connected to the issue, while probative adds that the item genuinely helps show the point is true.
- demonstrative
- Demonstrative shows or illustrates something clearly but is not tied to courtroom proof the way probative is.
- persuasive
- Persuasive describes an argument that convinces people, while probative concerns the proof-giving power of evidence.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: probative or prohibitive?
probative vs prohibitive
Prohibitive means so high or severe that it prevents something, as in prohibitive costs; it has nothing to do with proving.
Practice
The judge excluded the photograph because its ___ value was small compared with the risk of misleading the jury.
Choose one answer.
Probative value is the power of evidence to prove a point, the standard legal phrase. Prohibitive looks similar but means too costly or restrictive.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “probative”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.