adoptive

adjective

adop·​tive ə-ˈdäp-tiv 

1

: made or acquired by adoption

the adoptive father

2

: of or relating to adoption

adoptively adverb

Examples of adoptive in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Raise the Future offers Family Support Services to help foster and adoptive families navigate the trauma that children have experienced, and that includes kinship families. —Libby Smith, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026

Sandra Bullock, who played his adoptive mom Leigh Anne Tuoh, won an Oscar for her role. —Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 27 Jan. 2026

Hal’s mother, Avril, is having an affair with Charles Tavis, who is either her half or adoptive brother, and has summarily replaced Hal’s father as headmaster of the academy. —Hermione Hoby, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026

Larry Ellison, who was raised in a Reform Jewish home by his adoptive Jewish parents, has long been a donor to pro-Israel and Jewish causes, including to Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. —Jackie Hajdenberg, Sun Sentinel, 26 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English adoptif, borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French adoptif, going back to Old French, borrowed from Latin adoptīvus, from adoptāre "to adopt" + -īvus -ive

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing adoptive

• adoptive immunotherapy
• adoptive parent

Kids Definition

adoptive

adjective

adop·​tive ə-ˈdäp-tiv 

: made by or associated with adoption

the adoptive parents

Legal Definition

adoptive

adjective

adop·​tive ə-ˈdäp-tiv 

1

a

: having adopted

an adoptive parent

b

: having been adopted

an adoptive child

2

: made or acquired by accepting as one's own the words or actions of another

to constitute an adoptive admission…defendant must actually understand what was said and have an opportunity to deny it

—United States v. White, 766 F. Supp. 873 (1991)