connective

adjective con·nec·tive \ kə-ˈnek-tiv \

|Updated on: 7 Jul 2018

Definition of connective

: serving to connect

—

connectively

adverb

See connective defined for kids

Recent Examples of connective from the Web

That Are Important to Us, will come out on Valentine's Day next year, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Loeys-Deits Syndrome Foundation, to help little kids like Scout who suffer from the connective-tissue disorder.

— megan friedman, Country Living, "Joey Feek Copes With Her Final Days in Hospice: "I Didn't Think I'd Get to See Snow Again"," 23 Nov. 2015
In the long term, a study found that children who experienced trauma at a young age had smaller brain volumes and less connective matter than typically developing children, impairing their ability to communicate and think critically.

— elaine murphy, Teen Vogue, "How Family Separation at the Border Impacts Children," 20 June 2018
Meanwhile, Friends of the Rail has a new Executive Director, Kevin Dow, who will drive community engagement and realize a vision for another inclusive, connective public space in Philadelphia.

— jamie gauthier, Philly.com, "How you can help Philly reimagine our civic spaces | Opinion," 14 June 2018
To have a solely indoor, internally focused venue with little to no interface with the broader work-play Entertainment District seems to run contrary to the overall connective design interest of The Banks,'' the letter reads.

— randy tucker, Cincinnati.com, "Key players insist new Banks' concert venue must have outdoor seating; officials expected to pick finalist soon," 26 Apr. 2018
In the days after another mortifying tournament termination, two paths materialized in front of Cook, the sole connective thread remaining from those three seasons.

— nick moyle, San Antonio Express-News, "In the NCAA tournament, seniors still matter," 28 Mar. 2018
Porsche’s chase for pounds even drove it to replace the anti-roll bars and their connective hardware with carbon-fiber pieces (saving 11.9 pounds) and to swap the shift paddles and some steering-wheel trim for carbon fiber (saving 0.5 pound).

— alexander stoklosa, Car and Driver, "Weissach Package Lightens 2019 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, Your Bank Account," 28 Mar. 2018
Families can use the connective powers of their devices for good — and it can be done without cramping anyone’s social media style.

— michael andor brodeur, BostonGlobe.com, "Apps that aim to be very family-friendly," 15 Mar. 2018
Shark bodies are largely made of this firm, white connective substance—which does not fossilize well.

— erin biba, Scientific American, "Sharklike Fossil Fills In the Jaws Family Tree," 1 June 2017

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

First Known Use of connective

circa 1660

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

connective

noun

Definition of connective

: something that connects: such as

a : a linguistic form that connects words or word groups

b : a logical term (such as or, if-then, and, not) or a symbol for it that relates propositions in such a way that the truth or falsity of the resulting statement is determined by the truth or falsity of the components

See connective defined for English-language learners