illustrative

adjective il·lus·tra·tive \ i-ˈlə-strə-tiv also ˈi-lə-ˌstrā- \

Updated on: 12 May 2018

Definition of illustrative

: serving, tending, or designed to illustrate

illustrative examples

art that is illustrative of provincial life

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illustratively

adverb

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Examples of illustrative in a Sentence

an illustrative analogy in which the relationship between God and humanity is likened to that between a shepherd and his flock

Recent Examples of illustrative from the Web

Broadcast partner Ryan Lefebvre is asked his favorite Matthews calls, and the three that come to mind are illustrative. 1.

— sam mellinger, kansascity, "A day with Denny Matthews for his 50th KC Royals opener | The Kansas City Star," 29 Mar. 2018
The back and forth is illustrative of the angst-ridden debate going on across the state.

— peter fimrite, San Francisco Chronicle, "California’s two-tunnel Delta project is back on track with SoCal water district’s vote," 10 Apr. 2018
Roseanne's feud with her sister, Hillary Clinton supporter Jackie (Metcalf), is illustrative of how many families were torn apart by the presidential election.

— greg braxton, latimes.com, "'Roseanne': The Conners discover you can go home again, especially in an ABC reboot," 27 Mar. 2018
Another illustrative example: In 2011, Gaffney was banned from CPAC, the country’s premier conservative political conference, on grounds of being too aggressively anti-Muslim.

— zack beauchamp, Vox, "How John Bolton and Mike Pompeo mainstreamed Islamophobia," 27 Mar. 2018
This transparently scored work finds Telemann in an inventive mode, integrating illustrative effects (such as the awkward glissandi that depict Sancho Panza tossed in a blanket) into the music without sounding cartoonish.

— special to the plain dealer, cleveland.com, "Apollo's Fire heats up CIM in warm-up for Carnegie Hall debut (review)," 19 Mar. 2018
Phoenix’s 116-88 loss to the Utah Jazz on Thursday was illustrative of how the Suns go from bad to worse in a game and never recover.

— scott bordow, azcentral, "Phoenix Suns aren't just losing – they're losing ugly," 17 Mar. 2018
Instead of the usual Gothic script and pinup-girl tropes, Welcome Home’s artists draw illustrative line tattoos of outstretched palms, fairy-tale-esque bunnies, or pears growing on a branch.

— john januzzi, The Cut, "The Best of New York Health & Self 2018," 6 Mar. 2018
An illustrative example of how ham-handed this plot can be involves the strings Susannah pulls to win Pearl’s release; what transpires isn’t even remotely credible.

— mike fischer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Milwaukee Rep's 'Black Pearl' at its best when singing," 22 Jan. 2018

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