abortive

adjective abor·tive \ ə-ˈbȯr-tiv \

|Updated on: 18 Jul 2018

Examples: abortive in a Sentence

Definition of abortive

1 obsolete : prematurely born

2 : fruitless, unsuccessful

3 : imperfectly formed or developed

4 : tending to cut short

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abortively

adverb

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abortiveness

noun

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Examples of abortive in a Sentence

an abortive attempt to recover the sunken pirate ship

Recent Examples of abortive from the Web

In France three months of labour strikes at SNCF, the state rail firm, have made millions late for work every week and chaos marks Britain’s railways after an abortive timetable change on May 20th.

— The Economist, "European state rail firms face scrappy new competitors," 28 June 2018
And will anyone really want to watch a movie about foolish people who during one abortive attempt to make off with the oversize volume of ornithological prints disguise themselves badly as elderly men?

— michael o’sullivan, kansascity, "‘American Animals’: True crime that’s entertaining and profound," 21 June 2018
North Korea emerges from an abortive summit with President Donald Trump with its nuclear program intact and with more breathing room on sanctions, as the U.S. now has reduced leverage to extend its campaign of economic pressure.

— jonathan cheng, WSJ, "North Korea Gains Some Breathing Room After Cancellation of Summit," 25 May 2018
But Halo Online was more interesting than just an abortive experiment.

— julie muncy, WIRED, "Saying Goodbye to the Fan Game That Recreated a Decade-Old Classic," 11 May 2018
The JPMorgan Chase Philly push follows an abortive effort to enter the Philly region by Citibank, JPMorgan’s New York rival, in the 2000s.

— joseph n. distefano, Philly.com, "JPMorgan Chase plans new branches in Philly and beyond," 11 Apr. 2018
The abortive approach is one of a number GE has received for various businesses recently as competitors seek to gain advantage from its weakness, and shows how the once-mighty company’s fortunes have fallen.

— thomas gryta, WSJ, "Danaher Approached GE About Deal for GE’s Life-Sciences Unit," 25 Apr. 2018
That document cites only the abortive 2013 drug and gun bust that led to Walker and Farrell each pleading guilty to conduct unbecoming an officer.

— mark fazlollah, Philly.com, "List of 'troubled' Philadelphia police filled with inconsistencies," 16 Mar. 2018
Various external forces coincided to make Kuma’s flirtation with monumental excrescences an abortive one.

— nikil saval, New York Times, "Kengo Kuma’s Architecture of the Future," 15 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'abortive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of abortive

Middle English abortyffe, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French abbortif, borrowed from Latin abortīvus, from abortus, past participle of aborīrī "to miscarry, ¹abort" + -īvus -ive

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First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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