Main Entry:

de·scrip·tive

Pronunciation:

\di-ˈskrip-tiv\

Function:

adjective

Date:

1723

1: serving to describe <a descriptive account>2 a: referring to, constituting, or grounded in matters of observation or experience <the descriptive basis of science> b: factually grounded or informative rather than normative, prescriptive, or emotive <descriptive cultural studies>3of a modifier a: expressing the quality, kind, or condition of what is denoted by the modified term <hot in “hot water” is a descriptive adjective> b: nonrestrictive4: of, relating to, or dealing with the structure of a language at a particular time usually with exclusion of historical and comparative data <descriptive linguistics>

— de·scrip·tive·ly adverb

— de·scrip·tive·ness noun