operative

1 of 2

adjective

op·​er·​a·​tive ˈä-p(ə-)rə-tiv  ˈä-pə-ˌrā- 

1

a

: producing an appropriate effect : efficacious

operative techniques

b

: most significant or essential

the operative word in a phrase

the operative facts

2

: exerting force or influence : operating

an operative statute

3

a

: having to do with physical operations (as of machines)

operative skills

b

: working

an operative craftsman

4

: based on or consisting of an operation

operative dentistry

The disease may require operative treatment.

operatively adverb

operativeness noun

operative

2 of 2

noun

: operator: such as

a

: artisan, mechanic

b

: a secret agent

c

: private investigator

d

: a person who works toward achieving the objectives of a larger interest

political operatives

Synonyms

Adjective

• active
• alive
• functional
• functioning
• going
• live
• living
• on
• operating
• operational
• running
• working

Noun

• agent
• asset
• emissary
• intelligencer
• mole
• spook
• spy
• undercover

Examples of operative in a Sentence

Adjective

The factory must pass inspection before it becomes operative.

The telephone system is now fully operative.

If I go, I will bring a salad. “If,” however, is the operative word, since I am not sure that I can go.

Noun

CIA operatives take terrible risks to find out the secrets of foreign countries.

set in the 1930s, the novel is about a washed-out operative working for a third-rate detective agency

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

True Threat follows Special Forces operative Vernon Threat (Majors), who returns home seeking justice after his teenage son is murdered by Harlem’s Apollo Kids gang. —Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 12 June 2025

Now that this uncomfortable reality is finally out in the open, though, the operative question becomes: what is Macron's France, and the rest of Europe, actually prepared to do about it? —Ilan Berman, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 June 2025

Noun

The Republican operative Karl Rove has written an admiring book on McKinley. —Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 16 June 2025

Le Carré’s description of CIA-style abductions, where massed operatives overwhelm their target, bind his hands, and dress him in black goggles and headphones engineered to block all sight and sound of the outside world, derives from contemporary journalistic accounts. —Rav Grewal-Kök june 16, Literary Hub, 16 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English operatif "active, working," borrowed from Late Latin operātīvus, from operātus, past participle of operārī "to work, be efficacious" + Latin -īvus -ive — more at operate

Noun

derivative of operative entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

circa 1810, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for operative

• inoperative
• uncooperative

Kids Definition

operative

1 of 2 adjective

op·​er·​a·​tive ˈäp-(ə-)rət-iv 

ˈäp-ə-ˌrāt-

1

: producing a normal or desired effect

2

: being in operation

operative

2 of 2 noun

1

: operator sense 1

2

a

: a secret agent : spy

b

: detective entry 2

Medical Definition

operative

adjective

op·​er·​a·​tive ˈäp-(ə-)rət-iv  ˈäp-ə-ˌrāt- 

: of, relating to, involving, or resulting from an operation

operative treatment

operative mortality rates