Definition of FORMATIVE

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Whatever gives shape to something else may be called formative: for example, the Grand Canyon is a product of the formative power of water, and the automobile was a huge formative influence on the design of America's cities. But it usually applies to some kind of shaping that isn't physical. An ambitious plan, for example, goes through a formative stage of development. The formative years of the U.S. included experimentation with various forms of government. And the most important formative experiences in our own lives tend to take place in the first 20 years or so.

Examples of formative in a Sentence

Adjective This experience had a formative influence on his art. a teacher who was a formative influence on generations of students

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Growing up in Manchester, N.H., Sandler was almost pathologically well-adjusted, lacking a formative wound of the type that leads people to get up onstage and beg for the adulation of crowds. — Jamie Lauren Keiles, New York Times, "Adam Sandler’s Everlasting Shtick," 27 Nov. 2019 And, while it hasn’t been eulogized with the same fanfare as the other formative HBO dramas, to my eye, Six Feet Under’s vision of a diverse and porous postnuclear family is unrivaled in both prescience and earned sentiment. — Adam Wilson, Harper's magazine, "Good Bad Bad Good," 16 Sep. 2019 His early entry into the consciousness of football fans, his groundbreaking decision to join the upstart league and his role in the biggest trade in NFL history solidify Walker’s place among the formative figures of the game. — The Si Staff, SI.com, "100 Figures Who Shaped the NFL’s First Century," 28 Aug. 2019 Sleet is also a pellet-y precipitation and may appear very similar to graupel, but its formative processes are different. — Matthew Cappucci, chicagotribune.com, "Bombogenesis, thundersnow and the polar vortex: Explaining what your favorite winter weather terms mean," 21 Nov. 2019 Like many Gen Z’ers, High School Musical played a formative role in my childhood. — Gianluca Russo, Teen Vogue, "The Body Diversity on the New “High School Musical” Series Is Martha Cox-Approved," 17 Nov. 2019 Widmer played a formative role in Portland’s beer scene. — Mike Rogoway, oregonlive, "Anheuser-Busch buys total control of Portland’s Craft Brew Alliance for $220 million," 11 Nov. 2019 Along with Kitchen and Turner, the Golden Eagles rotate Demarrio Smith and Delmond Landry on the inside to form a formative front. — Evan Dudley, al, "Position-by-position breakdown for UAB’s divisonal showdown with Southern Miss," 7 Nov. 2019 There’s a wet, formative gurgle as someone down the block hocks a magnificent wad of phlegm into the street. — Cassandra Landry, SFChronicle.com, "Inside the astrology craze: The search for self in the new New Age.," 24 Oct. 2019

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

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Last Updated

13 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Formative.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/formative. Accessed 14 December 2019.