How to Use causative in a Sentence

causative

adjective

• A virus was found to be the causative agent of smallpox.
• Finding the agent that caused an outbreak (causative agent) can take time.
  — Forrest Brown, CNN, 6 Feb. 2025
• The health agency listed the causative agent as unknown.
  — Nathan Diller, USA Today, 30 Dec. 2025
• The causative agent in this case is still unknown, the CDC said.
  — Charlotte Phillipp, People.com, 7 Feb. 2025
• There are only two levels of data that can tell you whether something is causative.
  — Lisa Drayer, CNN, 13 May 2021
• No other causative factors were listed in the warrant.
  — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 3 Feb. 2026
• Frequently, if the causative problem is addressed, then the breakage will stop, leading to healthy hair growth.
  — Patty Weasler, Rn, Verywell Health, 28 Mar. 2025
• The time in front of a device or screen was self-reported, and none of these studies are able to draw any causative conclusions.
  — Popular Science, 12 Jan. 2021
• To really understand if that link is causative though, will take more time and lab experiments.
  — Megan Molteni, Wired, 1 June 2020
• Whether a causative link between these and earth’s temperature exists seems to remain an open question.
  — Ian Dexter Palmer, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
• The public health agency said the causative agent was norovirus, as was the case in all other 2023 outbreaks.
  — Nathan Diller, USA TODAY, 13 July 2023
• With some infections, by the time a person is evidently ill, their immune system has cleared away most of the causative agent.
  — Helen Branswell, STAT, 4 Jan. 2020
• Allcott is emphatic that the link between region and healthy eating is not causative and more research will be needed to tease out its nuances.
  — The Washington Post, OregonLive.com, 6 Feb. 2018
• What’s happened is there’s now an assumption that these risk factors are causative rather than associative, says Elovitz.
  — Katie Jennings, Forbes, 17 May 2022
• Up until now, there hasn’t been a way to ask whether a gene whose expression correlates with coral survival actually plays a causative role.
  — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 23 Apr. 2018
• Still, the authors write that the parasite could simply be more common in species that are declining—correlative, rather than causative.
  — Andrew Moseman, Discover Magazine, 3 Jan. 2011
• That’s key for brain health, as oxidative stress is known to be a causative factor in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.
  — Cynthia Sass, Mph, Health.com, 7 Aug. 2019
• Rest can mean either stepping away from the causative activity for a bit or reducing the frequency or intensity.
  — Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026
• Their predominant symptoms were also diarrhea and vomiting, but the causative agent was listed as unknown.
  — Nathan Diller, USA TODAY, 6 Jan. 2025
• This headline and story imply a causative relationship between the Bolsonaro policy changes and the drop in homicides.
  — WSJ, 5 July 2022
• However, the review also noted that more research should be done to better understand and identify any potential causative effects, as screens are not likely to go away anytime soon.
  — Popular Science, 12 Jan. 2021
• The relationship among filters, Photoshop apps, and plastic surgery apps is certainly correlative, if not causative.
  — Lizzie Plaugic, The Verge, 6 Apr. 2018
• Environmental factors seem to play a crucial role in promoting the disease’s development and progression, but the exact causative agents are unknown.
  — Rachel Nuwer, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2025
• Moreover, there are a multitude of factors that can serve as a catalyst to development of an eating disorder in certain individuals, but that doesn’t mean those factors are causative.
  — WSJ, 21 Sep. 2022
• Experts agree that the relationship between higher HDL levels and better heart health is correlational—not causative.
  — Sarah Klein, TIME, 10 July 2024
• Intoxication was not a causative factor in the crash, CHP Officer Jasmine Lopez said.
  — City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Oct. 2025
• With respect, therefore, there is a causative link between the heavy saturation of this pair (who have combined for slightly over 3,000 minutes this season) and the profound offensive struggles of the team as a whole.
  — Mark Deeks, Forbes, 31 Mar. 2023
• It’s also been shown that young patients with eczema are at a higher risk of developing other allergic conditions later in life, a correlation that Kim says might hint at a stronger — likely causative — relationship.
  — Jennifer Walter, Discover Magazine, 27 Mar. 2020
• In many cases, EIS officers led the investigations that described new diseases, uncovered the causative agents of an emerging condition, or stopped the outbreak.
  — Matthew Donahue, STAT, 22 Apr. 2026
• The Olympics may not actually be causative, but the needs of moving a lot of people and alleviating traffic during mass sporting events could spur the seismic jump necessary for creating an electric air taxi revolution.
  — J. George Gorant, Robb Report, 12 Aug. 2024