operative.
Effectual or important.
Meaning & usage
Effectual or important.
He's usually in a good mood — the operative word there being "usually". Today was a disaster.
Functional, in working order.
Having the power of acting; hence, exerting force, physical or moral; active in the production of effects.
an operative motive
Producing the appropriate or designed effect; efficacious.
an operative dose, rule, or penalty
Based upon, or consisting of, a surgical operation or operations.
operative surgery
Where this word comes from
From Middle English operative, operatyfe, from Middle French operatif (modern French opératif) or its etymon Latin operātīvus. By surface analysis, operate + -ive.
An employee or other worker with some particular function or skill.
A spy, secret agent, or detective.
A participant in an operation.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English operative, operatyfe, from Middle French operatif (modern French opératif) or its etymon Latin operātīvus. By surface analysis, operate + -ive.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.