manipulative

adjective

ma·​nip·​u·​la·​tive mə-ˈni-pyə-ˌlā-tiv 

-lə-

: of, relating to, or performed by manipulation

Osteopathy emphasizes manipulative techniques to correct abnormalities thought to cause disease and inhibit recovery.

—Carol L. Otis et al.

especially : serving or intended to control or influence others in an artful and often unfair or selfish way

a clever and manipulative child

manipulative behavior

Simpleminded as his critics found his ideas and remarks, cynical and manipulative as he may have been in actuality, he seemed to believe every word he said.

—Arthur Miller

manipulatively adverb

manipulativeness noun

Examples of manipulative in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Wittrock plays Remy’s charming but manipulative ex-business partner. —Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 1 Oct. 2025

At the same time, he’s burdened with a romantic subplot concerning a Jordanian nurse (Golshifteh Farahani) that’s meant to personalize a region’s conflicts but more accurately serves as a manipulative plot device once she gets captured by the bad guys. —Tim Grierson, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025

On Tuesday, a federal judge will begin hearing the Federal Trade Commission’s case against Amazon that alleges the company intentionally used manipulative practices to trick customers into signing up for the Prime membership service, and knowingly complicated the cancellation process. —Preston Fore, Fortune, 22 Sep. 2025

DeepMind also calls out the possibility that an AI could be tuned to be manipulative and systematically change people's beliefs—this CCL seems pretty plausible given how people grow attached to chatbots. —Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 22 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1834, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for manipulative

• accommodative
• accumulative
• adjudicative
• administrative
• agglutinative
• ameliorative
• appreciative
• assimilative
• associative
• authoritative
• collaborative
• cooperative