comparative
adjective
, -ˈpa-rə-\
Definition of comparative
(Entry 1 of 2)
comparative
nounDefinition of comparative (Entry 2 of 2)
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Synonyms & Antonyms for comparative
Synonyms: Adjective
almost, approximate, near, relative
Antonyms: Adjective
absolute, complete, downright, out-and-out, outright, perfect, pure, unqualified
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Examples of comparative in a Sentence
Adjective
She did a comparative study of classical and modern art. I'm taking a class in comparative anatomy. a comparative analysis of the roles of women in different cultures The comparative form of “happy” is “happier”; the comparative form of “good” is “better”; the comparative form of “clearly” is “more clearly.”Noun
“Taller” is the comparative of “tall.”
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Busing is not a stable solution; comparative affluence needs to be taken out of the equation for resolving disparity. — baltimoresun.com, "Letters: Busing isn’t the answer to Howard schools’ disparity problem; and more from readers," 17 Sep. 2019 The Frenchman, a comparative veteran at 25 and with a World Cup winner's medal to his name, found himself on the bench for the opening three La Liga fixtures as Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet were preferred. — SI.com, "Report: Barcelona to Sell Samuel Umtiti in January With Juventus a Possible Destination," 15 Sep. 2019 Kerouac saw sadness in Frank’s collection, but what is most notable about the staid, unburnished faces now is their comparative sanguinity. — Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, "How Robert Frank’s Photographs Helped Define America," 11 Sep. 2019 There are pockets of comparative underdevelopment on all of the Hawaiian islands, but only Molokai is marked by a long-term, persistent failure to develop in step with its neighbors. — Wade Graham, Smithsonian, "Why Molokai, With All Its Wonders, Is the Least Developed of Hawai’i’s Islands," 31 Aug. 2019 The watchdog said TransferWise had manipulated the data to its own advantage and hadn’t made enough comparative informative available to clients for them to make a judgement. — John Detrixhe, Quartz, "Is PayPal’s Xoom money transfer service a good deal?," 6 Aug. 2019 To combat some of the comparative invisibility of East African, and especially Kenyan, music, Awino and other industry insiders have recently undertaken a host of different initiatives. — Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, "What’s Missing From Beyoncé’s Lion King Soundtrack," 19 July 2019 Just as there are weather advantages that suggest what crops are best produced in different places, countries also have comparative advantages. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Econometer: Should the U.S. cut ties with China?," 30 Aug. 2019 Givler was studying at Occidental College for a graduate degree in comparative literature. — Calvin Tomkins, The New Yorker, "Vija Celmins’s Surface Matters," 26 Aug. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Why this matters: Reports from an independent testing organization like AV-Comparatives are important for the average PC user. — Ian Paul, PCWorld, "AV-Comparatives' anti-phishing results for 2017 put Avast, Bitdefender, Fortinet, and Kaspersky on top," 1 Aug. 2017 Other poll comparatives from March fell like dominoes. — David Paleologos, USA TODAY, "Paleologos on the poll: Replacing Obamacare is a sensitive 'Operation'," 29 June 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'comparative.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Learn More about comparative
From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
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Dictionary Entries near comparative
Statistics for comparative
Last Updated
29 Sep 2019
Look-up Popularity
Time Traveler for comparative
The first known use of comparative was in the 15th century
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More Definitions for comparative
comparative
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of comparative
(Entry 1 of 2)
comparative
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of comparative (Entry 2 of 2)
See the full definition for comparative in the English Language Learners Dictionary
comparative
adjective
\
Kids Definition of comparative
(Entry 1 of 2)
comparative
nounKids Definition of comparative (Entry 2 of 2)
comparative
adjective
\
Medical Definition of comparative
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comparative
adjective
\
Legal Definition of comparative
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