as in secondary
taken or created from something original or basic
a derivative style taken from earlier painters
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in derivation
something that naturally develops or is developed from something else
the whole field of industrial robots is a derivative of technology developed for the space program
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of derivative
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 11 Apr. 2026
Elsewhere, Phillips 66 is facing nearly $1 billion in losses from a short position in oil and other commodity derivative contracts, after the war sent fuel prices skyrocketing.
—Marcus Wright, Bloomberg, 7 Apr. 2026
Tanaya MacHeel, CNBC, 1 May 2026
The companies said their quarterly results were hurt by financial derivatives trades that fell in value because oil prices spiked before that oil could be delivered.
—Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 1 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for derivative
Adjective
But shark movies, because of that derivative quality (and because the directors are not Spielberg), often tend to be dreary and claustrophobic affairs.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 11 Apr. 2026
Elsewhere, Phillips 66 is facing nearly $1 billion in losses from a short position in oil and other commodity derivative contracts, after the war sent fuel prices skyrocketing.
—Marcus Wright, Bloomberg, 7 Apr. 2026
Noun
The data also underscores the shifting environment for crypto exchanges and importance of crypto derivatives – which include perpetual futures and, increasingly, prediction markets.
—Tanaya MacHeel, CNBC, 1 May 2026
The companies said their quarterly results were hurt by financial derivatives trades that fell in value because oil prices spiked before that oil could be delivered.
—Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 1 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for derivative
Recent Examples of Synonyms for derivative
Adjective
-
While the Lynx lost a close 91-90 contest to the Dream on Saturday, the game itself was secondary to the continued vitriol against ICE stirring in the WNBA and NBA.—
Alejandro Avila OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
11 May 2026
-
While the damages award was overturned by an appeals court in 2024, that court gave Sony a partial win by finding that Cox was guilty of contributory copyright infringement—a type of secondary liability for contributing to others’ infringement.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
11 May 2026
Noun
-
Five years after he was killed, in response to political unrest, the government increased the derivation fund to 13 percent for oil-producing states.—
Noo Saro-Wiwa,
The Dial,
24 Mar. 2026
-
Large Language Models often struggle with precise derivations and calculations in theoretical physics, sometimes exhibiting inconsistent reasoning.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
22 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
While Apple shares were up more than 4% in trading Friday, all of the derivate plays were trading in the red.—
Liz Napolitano,
CNBC,
1 May 2026
-
With unique enough lore and a unique style, Saxon avoids making a derivate fable.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
27 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Derivative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/derivative. Accessed 13 May. 2026.
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