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 of predictive

• prophetic
• sinister

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

Generative, predictive, and other forms of AI collectively are projected to generate as much as $340 billion annually in value creation for the global banking sector, consulting giant McKinsey has estimated. —John Kell, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2025

The novel is in many ways a string of dazzlingly deadpan and sharp observations about navigating the strange world of now, from predictive advertising to sugar babying to dead college friends. —Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2025

That’s a problem for hospitals and health care providers who rely on the CDC’s dashboards for predictive analyses and resource allocation. —Alexis Kayser, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025

For older couples, living arrangements, such as sharing a home, were less predictive of psychological well-being than sharing a sleeping space. —Angelica Stabile, FOXNews.com, 29 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1637, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for predictive

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