descriptive

adjective

Definition of descriptivenext
as in graphic
having many features or details He told a descriptive story about his trip to Spain that captured our attention. An overly descriptive account of the movie that left little to the imagination.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of descriptive The eyewitness account was so descriptive that researchers gave it their highest level of credibility. — Cbs New York Team, CBS News, 31 July 2026 The collection will number 354, each with a likeness and a few lines of descriptive text. — Tyler Kepner, New York Times, 24 July 2026 These sentences are part of a four-plus-page descriptive riff, one of many passages that lend the novel a teeming, avid opacity. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 9 July 2026 All the trappings of rage—the non-descriptive mentions of drug intake, the unspecified sadness, the shock-rock innuendos—are unshakeable. — Eli Enis, Pitchfork, 9 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for descriptive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for descriptive
  1. graphic
  2. realistic
  3. vivid
  4. expressive
  5. picturesque
  6. photographic
  7. accurate
  8. specific
Adjective
  • Class libraries and graphical frameworks supplied windows, menus, text editors, data structures and interaction patterns that developers could reuse and adapt.
    — Boris Kontsevoi, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Her fantastical Biblical scenes, of a graphic, storybook sensibility, sometimes showed angels, and Christ himself, as chalky white, and this rang in some Black critical circles as a sign of backwater unsophistication.
    — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of graphic
Adjective
  • There was a lot of work on the medical cases to make the investigations complex and realistic, but there was also an entry point built around a strong, funny, unpleasant character, completely at odds with her return to her roots.
    — Roberto Prieto, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026
  • To be a realistic contender, the defense has to be much better.
    — Zak Keefer, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of realistic
Adjective
  • Those who were born may not be old enough to have the vivid recollections of an older generation.
    — Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Come fall, particularly October, the woodlands draw fall-color enthusiasts with vivid maples, birches, and beeches.
    — Stephanie Vermillion, Travel + Leisure, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of vivid
Adjective
  • There is no doubt the quality of players that managers have available plays a massive part in how expressive their style becomes but as ideas go, Luis Enrique’s use of his wide players last season definitely set PSG apart.
    — Art de Roché, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Hüller is mesmerizing in what initially feels like a silent-film performance, magnificently expressive and physical, before the emotional wallop of the final act.
    — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of expressive
Adjective
  • Meanwhile, those in Boulder are eager to see if Sanders can replicate the fervor of the first two years of his tenure, when visitors flooded the picturesque Pearl Street Mall.
    — Christopher Kamrani, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Set on a picturesque Japanese island, the series follows Karin Shirahama, a strawberry farmer who pours everything into her land, and Lee Yubin, a city dweller whose fortunes have taken a sharp turn for the worse.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of picturesque
Adjective
  • Baldwin Lee came to photographic renown pretty late in life, mostly for his in-close-and-intense pictures of small-town Black Southerners made in the 1980s and collected in an epic monograph in 2022.
    — Baldwin Lee, Curbed, 10 Sep. 2026
  • There are improvements to photographic styles, offering texture and grain control.
    — Jay Peters, The Verge, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of photographic
Adjective
  • Suffice it to say, a QB's rookie year is not always an accurate portrayal of the player that QB will become.
    — Austin Mock, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026
  • However, according to veterinarians, this calculation isn't always accurate.
    — Maddie Rhodes, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of accurate
Adjective
  • The researchers focused on a specific material used in aircraft and train interiors, including passenger-cabin flooring.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Late-stage studies have shown success in directing the immune system to attack tumor-specific mutations.
    — Janet Loehrke, USA Today, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of specific

Browse Nearby Words

descriptions
descriptive
descry
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Cite this Entry

“Descriptive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/descriptive. Accessed 12 Sep. 2026.

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