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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

substantive.

Of the essence or essential element of a thing.

11 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈsʌbstəntɪv/US/səbˈstæntɪv/US
  1. Of the essence or essential element of a thing.

    substantive information
  2. Of the essence or essential element of a thing. Constituting the substance of content rather than its style, and thus always nontrivial.

    broadly
    Substantive editing is never trivial, whereas some aspects of copyediting are trivial.
    substantive changes made by the lawyers
  3. Having substance; enduring; solid; firm; substantial.

  4. Applying to essential legal principles and rules of right.

    substantive law
  5. Not needing the use of a mordant to be made fast to that which is being dyed.

  6. Depending on itself; independent.

  7. Of or pertaining to a substantive.

  8. Actually and legally held, as distinct from an acting, temporary or honorary rank or appointment.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English substantif, from Old French substantif.

noun/ˈsʌbstəntɪv/US/səbˈstæntɪv/US
  1. Ellipsis of noun substantive or substantive noun, a noun or a group of words (a noun phrase) that act as a noun (in a sentence).

    abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis
  2. Part of a text that carries the meaning, such as words and their ordering.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English substantif, from Old French substantif.

verb/ˈsʌbstəntɪv/US/səbˈstæntɪv/US
  1. To make a word belonging to another part of speech into a substantive (that is, a noun) or use it as a noun.

    rare
Where this word comes from

From Middle English substantif, from Old French substantif.

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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.