elective

¹elec·tive

adj \i-ˈlek-tiv\

Definition of ELECTIVE

1

a : chosen or filled by popular election <an elective official> b : of or relating to election c : based on the right or principle of election <the presidency is an elective office>

2

a : permitting a choice : optional <an elective course in school> b : beneficial to the patient but not essential for survival <elective surgery>

3

a : tending to operate on one substance rather than another <elective absorption> b : favorably inclined to one more than to another : sympathetic <an elective affinity>

— elec·tive·ly adverb

— elec·tive·ness noun

Examples of ELECTIVE

1. He's never held an elective office.
2. Plastic surgery is elective surgery.
3. She took three elective courses last term.

First Known Use of ELECTIVE

circa 1531

Related to ELECTIVE

Synonyms: discretionary, optional, voluntary

Antonyms: compulsory, mandatory, nonelective, nonvoluntary, obligatory, required

Related Words: alternate, alternative, chosen; dispensable, unnecessary, unneeded, unwanted

Near Antonyms: essential, indispensable, necessary, requisite

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Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

Rhymes with ELECTIVE

advective, affective, bijective, collective, connective, convective, corrective, defective, deflective, detective, directive, effective, ejective, infective, inflective, injective, invective, objective, perfective, perspective, projective, protective, reflective, respective, selective, subjective