Meaning & use
propulsive
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Able to push or drive something forward, as an engine or a force does.
Grammar: Usually placed before the noun it describes: a propulsive force.
Patterns
- propulsive force
- propulsive power
The rocket's propulsive force came from a single large engine.
Engineers tested the propulsive power of the new boat motor in a calm harbor.
A swimmer's kick supplies much of the propulsive effect in the water.
adjectivecomparablefigurative
Full of driving energy that makes music, writing or action seem to surge forward.
Grammar: Can come before a noun or after a linking verb: a propulsive beat, or the rhythm felt propulsive.
Patterns
- a propulsive rhythm
- propulsive prose
The drummer laid down a propulsive rhythm that kept everyone dancing.
Critics praised the novel's propulsive plot, which made it hard to put down.
Her propulsive style of speaking pulled the audience along with her.
Word forms
| comparative | more propulsive |
|---|---|
| superlative | most propulsive |
Common combinations
- propulsive force
- The propulsive force of the jet pushed the plane down the runway.
- propulsive rhythm
- The band built a propulsive rhythm out of bass and handclaps.
- propulsive energy
- The film has a propulsive energy from its first scene.
- propulsive beat
- A propulsive beat opens the song and never lets up.
- propulsive narrative
- The author keeps a propulsive narrative going across four hundred pages.
Synonyms and how they differ
- driving
- Driving is more common in everyday speech, and a driving beat suggests insistence, whereas propulsive stresses the forward movement it creates.
- dynamic
- Dynamic describes general liveliness and change, while propulsive says specifically that something is pushing onward.
- forceful
- Forceful points to strength or power in itself, with no sense of movement toward a goal as in propulsive.
Opposites
Word family
- propel verb
- to drive or push something forward
- propulsion noun
- the force or system that drives something forward
- propeller noun
- a set of rotating blades that pushes a ship or aircraft
- propellant noun
- a fuel or gas that creates thrust
Commonly confused: propulsive or impulsive?
propulsive vs impulsive
Impulsive describes someone who acts suddenly without thinking, while propulsive describes something that drives forward.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'propulsive' in its figurative sense?
Choose one answer.
Only the pianist sentence describes lively forward momentum in music. The others describe literal machinery that pushes something, which is the physical sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “propulsive”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.