representative

1 of 2

adjective

rep·​re·​sen·​ta·​tive ˌre-pri-ˈzen-tə-tiv 

1

: serving to represent

2

a

: standing or acting for another especially through delegated authority

b

: of, based on, or constituting a government in which the many are represented by persons chosen from among them usually by election

3

: serving as a typical or characteristic example

a representative moviegoer

4

: of or relating to representation or representationalism

representatively adverb

representativeness noun

representativity

ˌre-pri-ˌzen-tə-ˈti-və-tē 

noun

representative

2 of 2

noun

1

: one that represents another or others: such as

a(1)

: one that represents a constituency as a member of a legislative body

(2)

: a member of the house of representatives of the U.S. Congress or a state legislature

b

: one that represents another as agent, deputy, substitute, or delegate usually being invested with the authority of the principal

c

: one that represents a business organization

d

: one that represents another as successor or heir

2

: a typical example of a group, class, or quality : specimen

Synonyms

Adjective

• archetypal
• archetypical
• average
• characteristic
• normal
• regular
• standard
• true
• typical

Noun

• agent
• assignee
• attorney
• commissary
• delegate
• deputy
• envoy
• factor
• minister
• procurator
• proxy
• rep

Examples of representative in a Sentence

Adjective

The paintings are representative of English art in the early 19th century.

The students chosen for the survey are a fairly representative sample of college students from across the U.S.

Noun

Do you know who your representatives are?

The bill was introduced by Representative Smith.

a representative of her age group

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The readers’ representative office is online at latimes.com/readersrep. —Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2024

Typically, these budgets go toward ensuring campaigns are representative of the American population, making explicit spots celebrating inclusion, diversifying marketing teams, or other similar practices. —Lila MacLellan, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024

Next, artificial intelligence models created and studied a representative sample of 12,000 songs, which included a more balanced mix of release years and genres. —Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024

The guidance offered by each expert is representative of their views and not necessarily the views of their organizations. —Casey Delbasso, ABC News, 18 Mar. 2024

The data was weighted to reflect the U.S. population of adults 18-59 to obtain representative demographic characteristics of the market. —Todd Spangler, Variety, 8 Mar. 2024

How did your representative vote on the TikTok bill? —USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2024

Bain feels that female collectors are a force to be reckoned with and that women’s watches in the secondary market are largely representative of design done right in terms of sweet spot sizing and timelessness. —Cait Bazemore, Robb Report, 13 Mar. 2024

At one time, some believed that this system might eventually grow into a more representative Russian democracy. —Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Mar. 2024

Noun

On Sunday, Perdomo’s representative confirmed his death in a statement to CNN. —Marianne Garvey, CNN, 3 Apr. 2024

Meanwhile the driver, who's name has not been released, has been suspended by Instacart, company representatives said. —Gabrielle Rockson, Peoplemag, 3 Apr. 2024

The Indiana native was the lone representative of the state in any Beard award category in 2022. —The Indianapolis Star, 3 Apr. 2024

The City Attorney's Office serves as the legal counsel and representative for city departments. —Daniel Bice, Journal Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2024

Walt Disney World representatives teased expansion for the Florida park’s Magic Kingdom, stating construction permits would be filed in the coming weeks. —Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024

Company representatives hosted a public information session on Sept. 21 at De Soto’s City Hall, with letters inviting property owners. —Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 4 Apr. 2024

Mayor Kate Gallego and the council will vote on a new representative for the seat at the 2:30 p.m. public policy meeting on April 9. —Taylor Seely, The Arizona Republic, 23 Mar. 2024

But as American frustrations over Israel’s conduct in the war increase, the Biden administration’s rhetoric, at least, has grown tougher, and on Friday, U.S. representatives at the U.N. Security Council sponsored a resolution calling for a pause in the fighting. —Miriam Berger, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1635, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

representative

1 of 2 adjective

rep·​re·​sen·​ta·​tive ˌrep-ri-ˈzent-ət-iv 

1

: serving to represent

a painting representative of a battle

2

: standing or acting for another especially through delegated authority

3

: of, based upon, or being a government in which the people are represented by persons chosen from among them usually by election

4

: serving as a typical example of the thing mentioned

a representative athlete

representatively adverb

representativeness noun

representative

2 of 2 noun

1

: a typical example of a group, class, or quality

2

: one that represents another or others : delegate

especially : a member of the house of representatives of the U.S. Congress or a state legislature

Legal Definition

representative

1 of 2 adjective

rep·​re·​sen·​ta·​tive

1

: serving to represent

2

a

: standing or acting for another especially through delegated authority

an agent acting in a representative capacity

b

: of, based on, or constituting a government in which the people are represented by individuals chosen from among them usually by election

3

: of or relating to representation

representative

2 of 2 noun

: one that represents another or others in a special capacity: as

a

: one that represents a constituency as a member of a legislative or other governing body

specifically : a member of the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress or a state legislature

b

: one that represents another as agent, deputy, substitute, or delegate and that usually is invested with the authority of the principal

c

: one that represents or stands in the place of a deceased person : personal representative

d

: one that represents another as successor or heir

e

: one named as the plaintiff or defendant in a class action to litigate on behalf of the class