discriminative

adjective

dis·​crim·​i·​na·​tive di-ˈskri-mə-ˌnā-tiv How to pronounce discriminative (audio)
-ˈskri-mə-nə-
1
: making distinctions
2

Examples of discriminative in a Sentence

fighting laws which were grossly discriminative
Recent Examples on the Web There's clearly larger work to be done in the diversity & inclusion space to help reduce discriminative hiring practices. Lindsay Kohler, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2023 Asking certain questions can come off as offensive or discriminative (e.g., questions about family orientation, age, physical attributes, etc.). Imani Carroll, Forbes, 27 Jan. 2022 While the goal has been to automate tasks critical to containing the spread of Covid-19, many accuse the apps of being intrusive, discriminative, unsafe and ineffective. Alexey Shliakhouski, Forbes, 15 Nov. 2021 In 2019, the Chinese government issued a directive banning a wide range of discriminative measures against women in the hiring process, including asking women about their marital and childbearing status. Jessie Yeung and Nectar Gan, CNN, 5 June 2021 Health care data science firm Cogitativo analyzed thousands of health insurance claims and local demographics in California to assess the most predictive and discriminative factors leading to poor outcomes following Covid-19 infection. Deidre McPhillips, CNN, 25 Feb. 2021 In New York City, Uber ran a campaign on taxi drivers being discriminative toward people of color, leading to City Hall dropping a bill that would have capped the number of Uber drivers in 2015. Michelle Cheng, Quartz, 4 Nov. 2020 Known for their hyper-selective and discriminative taste, hypebeasts search for the freshest trends—especially limited-release lifestyle products. Courtney Coffman, The Atlantic, 19 June 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'discriminative.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1677, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of discriminative was in 1677

Dictionary Entries Near discriminative

Cite this Entry

“Discriminative.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discriminative. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

discriminative

adjective
dis·​crim·​i·​na·​tive dis-ˈkrim-ə-ˌnāt-iv How to pronounce discriminative (audio)
-ˈkrim-(ə-)nə-tiv
1
: seeing the differences between things
2
discriminatively adverb
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!