as in secondary
taken or created from something original or basic
a derivative style taken from earlier painters
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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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of derivative
Alexander S. Blume, Forbes.com, 19 Jan. 2026
These commands are executed by a low-level proportional-derivative controller running at 100 Hz to ensure stable and accurate motion.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 16 Jan. 2026
Bruce Helmer, Twin Cities, 28 Feb. 2026
Synthetic testosterone derivatives that can be taken orally are also now undergoing clinical trials.
—Kenneth H. Mayer, STAT, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for derivative
Adjective
What remains are delta-neutral derivative strategies.
—Alexander S. Blume, Forbes.com, 19 Jan. 2026
These commands are executed by a low-level proportional-derivative controller running at 100 Hz to ensure stable and accurate motion.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 16 Jan. 2026
Noun
Corporate debt levels, private equity structures, derivatives and even concentration within major stock indexes all introduce leverage into stock portfolios.
—Bruce Helmer, Twin Cities, 28 Feb. 2026
Synthetic testosterone derivatives that can be taken orally are also now undergoing clinical trials.
—Kenneth H. Mayer, STAT, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for derivative
Recent Examples of Synonyms for derivative
Adjective
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And while sports will be a secondary concern to those in the Middle East this week, the conflict has triggered fresh doubts over Iran’s participation in the competition, with the country involved in escalating violence following strikes by the United States and Israel.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
3 Mar. 2026
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Based on the 1928 original, the watch features a solid gold dial with an aperture that displays jumping hours at 12 o’clock and a secondary aperture that shows dragging minutes.—
Rachel Cormack,
Robb Report,
2 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Silicon Valley dreamt up poor derivations of past cautionary tales and created a monoculture of exploitative social media feeds and predatory data-hungry apps that birthed Orwell’s surveillance state.—
John Lopez,
HollywoodReporter,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Bose found a stronger mathematical derivation of Planck’s law.—
Matt von Hippel,
Quanta Magazine,
23 June 2025
Noun
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Wall Street is also taking notice of the chipmaker as a derivate play of Alphabet’s growing AI dominance.—
Pia Singh,
CNBC,
24 Nov. 2025
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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 8 Mar. 2026.
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