selective
adjective
se·lec·tive
sə-ˈlek-tiv 
2
: highly specific in activity or effect
selective pesticides
selective absorption
Examples of selective in a Sentence
The club is selective in choosing members.
The college has a highly selective admissions process.
Recent Examples on the Web
On Thursday during his hearing, Kennedy claimed that anyone can get COVID-19 vaccines at their pharmacy for free, however, pharmacies are being selective due to the limbo of federal regulations.
—
Jon Haworth, ABC News, 5 Sep. 2025
Detroit's property tax burden is among the highest in the nation, leading to the use of selective tax break programs to lessen the burden on some residents.
—Malachi Barrett, Freep.com, 5 Sep. 2025
For all the talk of secondary enforcement, the application has been selective, incoherent, and easily dismissed.
—Brett Erickson, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Sep. 2025
Unlike conventional luminescent or scattering-based concentrators, which often suffer from visual distortion, low efficiency, and poor scalability, the new CUSC delivers broadband, polarization-selective diffraction and efficient waveguiding while preserving complete visual clarity.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for selective
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Jon Haworth, ABC News, 5 Sep. 2025
Detroit's property tax burden is among the highest in the nation, leading to the use of selective tax break programs to lessen the burden on some residents.
—Malachi Barrett, Freep.com, 5 Sep. 2025
For all the talk of secondary enforcement, the application has been selective, incoherent, and easily dismissed.
—Brett Erickson, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Sep. 2025
Unlike conventional luminescent or scattering-based concentrators, which often suffer from visual distortion, low efficiency, and poor scalability, the new CUSC delivers broadband, polarization-selective diffraction and efficient waveguiding while preserving complete visual clarity.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for selective
Cite this Entry
“Selective.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/selective. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
selective
adjective
se·lec·tive
sə-ˈlek-tiv
: of or relating to selection : selecting or tending to select
selective shoppers
Medical Definition
selective
adjective
se·lec·tive
sə-ˈlek-tiv
2
: highly specific in activity or effect
selective pesticides
selective permeability of a plasma membrane
selectively
adverb
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