predictive

adjective

pre·​dic·​tive pri-ˈdik-tiv 

1

: of, relating to, or usable or valuable for prediction

predictive medical factors

2

: based on or generated by using methods of prediction

predictive models

predictive text

Usually predictive policing refers to feeding reams of city data into a computer and dispatching extra officers to areas that are deemed to be at high risk of future crime.

—Leon Neyfakh

predictively adverb

Like an astrological chart, it can be made to fit any case, and it works better retrospectively than predictively.

—Carol Tavris

Synonyms

• prophetic
• sinister
• prophetical

Examples of predictive in a Sentence

unfortunately, the stock market crash of 1929 turned out to be a predictive event, for the next decade was consumed by the Great Depression

Recent Examples on the Web

Align KPIs and validate sources to drive predictive strategies and achieve big savings in a high-stakes analytics market. —Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025

An impaired sense of smell is more strongly predictive of all-cause mortality than heart disease. —Tad Friend, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025

According to the Air Force, this test is part of a series intended to qualify the stage-two design and validate predictive performance models developed in a digital engineering environment. —Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 1 Aug. 2025

Why? Agents, by their very nature, are higher risk than most kinds of predictive AI or generative AI that simply produces content. —Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 29 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1637, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for predictive

• addictive
• constrictive
• restrictive
• vindictive
• fictive
• magnetostrictive