as in intrinsic
being a part of the innermost nature of a person or thing
the proposition that liberty and justice are constitutive elements of an enlightened society
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Recent Examples of constitutive
But the sea also surges through Tennyson’s poetry in a completely different way, although one equally constitutive of his genius.
—
Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Although 90 percent of our people were farmers at the time of our founding nearly 250 years ago, and now only about 1.2 percent are, the fact remains this small percentage is constitutive of all the rest.
—MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Nov. 2025
What the poem’s constitutive range of modal verbs exemplify is a mode of poetic questioning.
—Elaine L. Wang
september 11, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
There are the constitutive ingredients: her tightknit and loving parents — Marlean, an elementary school teacher, and Paul, a pastor— and their faith and the protective love of Wes.
—Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 11 June 2025
Obviously, this dialectic has been constitutive of Gabriel Orozco’s work from the very beginning and determines it to this very day.
—Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Artforum, 1 June 2025
Art critic Eva Diaz, writing for ArtReview, says that
Of the ‘creative’ pursuits, architecture is among the most dependent on big piles of capital in order to get its work off the ground: patronage is a constitutive yoke of the profession.
—Matt Shaw, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025
The globalist gaze on the world identified both interconnectedness and diversity as the constitutive elements of the post-war era.
—Or Rosenboim, Foreign Affairs, 10 July 2017
Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Although 90 percent of our people were farmers at the time of our founding nearly 250 years ago, and now only about 1.2 percent are, the fact remains this small percentage is constitutive of all the rest.
—MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Nov. 2025
What the poem’s constitutive range of modal verbs exemplify is a mode of poetic questioning.
—Elaine L. Wang
september 11, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
There are the constitutive ingredients: her tightknit and loving parents — Marlean, an elementary school teacher, and Paul, a pastor— and their faith and the protective love of Wes.
—Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 11 June 2025
Obviously, this dialectic has been constitutive of Gabriel Orozco’s work from the very beginning and determines it to this very day.
—Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Artforum, 1 June 2025
Art critic Eva Diaz, writing for ArtReview, says that
Of the ‘creative’ pursuits, architecture is among the most dependent on big piles of capital in order to get its work off the ground: patronage is a constitutive yoke of the profession.
—Matt Shaw, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025
The globalist gaze on the world identified both interconnectedness and diversity as the constitutive elements of the post-war era.
—Or Rosenboim, Foreign Affairs, 10 July 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for constitutive
Adjective
-
There’s an intrinsic link between fatherhood and baseball.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
15 Feb. 2026
-
High-resistivity wafers enter the high-level injection regime more readily than low-resistivity ones, a physical characteristic that underlies their superior intrinsic potential for achieving high fill factors.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The inherent disagreement isn’t about those facts.—
Steve Booren,
Denver Post,
15 Feb. 2026
-
For all the inherent sadness of its subject matter, Mouse is never depressing, thanks to the delicacy of O’Sullivan and Thompson’s filmmaking.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Still, pairing strength training with cardio, which is integral to cardiovascular health, can deliver the best return on investment for women.—
Alexa Mikhail,
Flow Space,
13 Feb. 2026
-
More significantly, Savonuzzi conceived the entire body—including doors and hood—as an integral, continuously flowing form.—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
There are five treatment rooms in total, and a traditional hammam is essential for the full Moroccan experience.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
18 Feb. 2026
-
Cuba's communist government has implemented rationing measures to protect essential services in a country that was already suffering from severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The Legislature should build on the success of the recent constitutional amendment, Proposition 4, approved by voters, which dedicates funding to securing Texas’ long-term water supply through infrastructure improvements and new water projects.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Feb. 2026
-
In Florida, voters in 2010 passed a constitutional amendment called Fair Districts that forbids lawmakers from drawing district boundaries for political purposes.—
Michael Van Sickler,
The Orlando Sentinel,
13 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Constitutive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/constitutive. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.
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