conducive

adjective

con·​du·​cive kən-ˈdü-siv 

-ˈdyü-

: tending to promote or assist

an atmosphere conducive to education

conduciveness noun

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Something conducive "leads to" a desirable result. A cozy living room may be conducive to relaxed conversation, just as a boardroom may be conducive to more intense discussions. Particular tax policies are often conducive to savings and investment, whereas others are conducive to consumer spending. Notice that conducive is almost always followed by to.

Synonyms

• facilitative

Examples of conducive in a Sentence

… air-conditioner cooling towers on the roof provided a conducive summertime abode, from which the germs circulated throughout the edifice in a fine infectious mist. —Wayne Biddle, A Field Guide to Germs, 1995

To the extent to which the political realm is more conducive to rational choice, compared with the social realm which is governed by material and economic concerns, it is in politics that the potentiality for freedom lies. —Gertrude Himmelfarb, The New History and the Old, 1987

It was a hard time, and not conducive to obedience and warmth, and fairly soon I was tucked into a kindly concentration camp for budding Christians … —M. F. K. Fisher, Journal of Gastronomy, Summer 1984

The small hat of woven green plastic raffia, the jazzy short-sleeved shirt (fundamentally orange), the pale blue shorts, were not garments conducive to dignity. —A. N. Wilson, Scandal or Priscilla's Kindness, 1983

the claim that the state's long-standing antitax attitude is conducive to entrepreneurship

the noisy environment of the dorms was not very conducive to studying

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Recent Examples on the Web

Andy Cohen's 2 Kids: Everything to Know In practice, that means some baby basics aren’t conducive to adaptability. —Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 5 Nov. 2023

Bilateral meetings aren’t always conducive to a personal touch, and Biden and Xi were flanked by advisers on opposite sides of a long table. —Chris Megerian, Fortune, 16 Nov. 2023

And, excitingly, a salty ocean indicates conditions there might be conducive to life. —Popular Science, 8 Nov. 2023

Advertisement Her ghostly existence is not one conducive to capitalism. —Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2023

Daniel Glavin, the senior scientist for sample return at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, told me that, in recent decades, scientists have concluded that the atmosphere of early Earth was not actually conducive to making organic compounds. —David W. Brown, The New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2023

Plus, your kitchen's footprint may not be conducive with the remerging fad. —Kelsey Mulvey, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2023

The name change drew no controversy, or any conversation during Monday’s commission meeting. County officials said that BLM’s request to them simply stated that the rationale for the name change was to be conducive with the cul-de-sac’s proximity to Fowl River. —John Sharp | [e-mail], al, 14 Sep. 2023

That, along with the unprecedented global warmth, could mean conditions remain conducive to heavy precipitation events into next year. —Theodora Yu, Washington Post, 14 Sep. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

conduce + -ive

Note: English derivatives with -ive are normally formed from the past participle of a Latin verb. The adjective conducive is an exception. Presumably this is the case because conduct entry 1 already existed as a verb, but it lacked an original sense of Latin condūcere, "to tend to support, be of advantage (to)"—so that conductive would not convey the right meaning. The alternative was to form an -ive adjective directly from the verb.

First Known Use

1646, in the meaning defined above