constitutive
adjective
con·sti·tu·tive
ˈkän(t)-stə-ˌtü-tiv 
-ˌtyü-;
kən-ˈsti-chə-tiv
1
: having the power to enact or establish : constructive
2
3
: relating to or dependent on constitution
a constitutive property of all electrolytes
constitutively
adverb
Examples of constitutive in a Sentence
the proposition that liberty and justice are constitutive elements of an enlightened society
Recent Examples on the Web
Although 90 percent of our people were farmers at the time of our founding nearly 250 years ago, and now only about 1.2 percent are, the fact remains this small percentage is constitutive of all the rest.
—
MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Nov. 2025
What the poem’s constitutive range of modal verbs exemplify is a mode of poetic questioning.
—Elaine L. Wang
september 11, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
Our back-and-forths with a chatbot, in turn, exteriorize our private, internal dialogues, which some consider constitutive of thought itself.
—Dan Rockmore, New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2025
There are the constitutive ingredients: her tightknit and loving parents — Marlean, an elementary school teacher, and Paul, a pastor— and their faith and the protective love of Wes.
—Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 11 June 2025
Obviously, this dialectic has been constitutive of Gabriel Orozco’s work from the very beginning and determines it to this very day.
—Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Artforum, 1 June 2025
Art critic Eva Diaz, writing for ArtReview, says that
Of the ‘creative’ pursuits, architecture is among the most dependent on big piles of capital in order to get its work off the ground: patronage is a constitutive yoke of the profession.
—Matt Shaw, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025
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MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Nov. 2025
What the poem’s constitutive range of modal verbs exemplify is a mode of poetic questioning.
—Elaine L. Wang
september 11, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
Our back-and-forths with a chatbot, in turn, exteriorize our private, internal dialogues, which some consider constitutive of thought itself.
—Dan Rockmore, New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2025
There are the constitutive ingredients: her tightknit and loving parents — Marlean, an elementary school teacher, and Paul, a pastor— and their faith and the protective love of Wes.
—Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 11 June 2025
Obviously, this dialectic has been constitutive of Gabriel Orozco’s work from the very beginning and determines it to this very day.
—Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Artforum, 1 June 2025
Art critic Eva Diaz, writing for ArtReview, says that
Of the ‘creative’ pursuits, architecture is among the most dependent on big piles of capital in order to get its work off the ground: patronage is a constitutive yoke of the profession.
—Matt Shaw, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Constitutive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitutive. Accessed 15 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
constitutive
adjective
con·sti·tu·tive
ˈkän(t)-stə-ˌt(y)üt-iv
kən-ˈstich-ət-iv
kən-ˈstich-ət-iv
1
a
: of, relating to, or being an enzyme or protein produced in relatively constant amounts in all cells of an organism without regard to cell environmental conditions (as the concentration of a substrate) compare inducible sense a
b
: controlling production of or coding genetic information for a constitutive enzyme or protein
constitutive genes
constitutive mutations
2
: being chromatin of a chromosomal region that is condensed into heterochromatin in all cells of an organism rather than just some
constitutively
adverb
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