inventiveadj.
/ɪnˈvɛntɪv/, U.S. /ᵻnˈvɛn(t)ɪv/ 1.
a. Having the faculty of invention; apt or quick to invent; original in contriving or devising.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > invention, devising > [adjective]
inventivec1450
ingenious1576
contriving1790
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > inventive or creative faculty > [adjective]
imaginativec1405
inventivec1450
feigning1483
creativea1513
inventative1541
inventious1591
conceitful1594
forgetive1600
productive1612
projecting1614
excogitous1646
plastic1662
ingeniary1664
formful1730
forgeful1751
inventful1797
original-minded1797
original1803
originative1811
vivid1814
fingent1837
constructive1841
right-brained1871
poietic1905
c1450 J. Lydgate Secrees 144 Alle othir Reemys in philosophye It doth excelle and of hih Reson Is moost inventyff.
?c1470 G. Ashby Active Policy Prince 12 A personne, lerned and Inuentif.
a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 45 Those that haue ye inuentiuest heades.
1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura iii. 34 Never hit upon among the Greeks and inventive Romans.
1765 E. Burke Hints Ess. Drama in Wks. (1842) II. 500 By the inventive genius, I mean the creator of agreeable facts and incidents.
1879 H. George Progress & Poverty x. iii. 473 No slave holding people ever were an inventive people.
b. Const. of.
ΚΠ
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 252 He was passing ingenious and inventive of matter.
1834 H. Martineau Demerara (new ed.) iv. 46 Not a slave on the plantation was so inventive of excuses.
1869 J. E. T. Rogers in A. Smith Inq. Wealth Nations (new ed.) I. i. vi. 50 (note) This labour..is inventive of mechanical expedients.
2. Characterized by invention; produced by or showing original contrivance.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > inventive or creative faculty > [adjective] > characterized by invention
conceited1542
deviceful1590
minted1598
well-conceited1598
inventive1601
good-conceiteda1616
made-up1773
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 535 A notable picture..the deuise whereof was passing full of wit, and verie inuentiue.
1816 W. Scott Old Mortality vi, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. IV. 117 Treated with every circumstance of inventive mockery and insult.
1856 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters III. 40 The last characteristic of great art is that it must be inventive, that is, be produced by the imagination.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > fabrication of statement or story > [adjective]
feignedc1374
wronga1375
forged14..
falsesome1533
compound1574
flim-flam1577
coined1582
minted1598
fabled1606
commentitial1611
inventive1612
commentitious1615
fictiousa1644
fictitious1660
manufactured1705
commentative1716
made-up1806
inventeda1831
concocted1840
accrete1846
fictive1855
mythical1870
1612 Warner (title) Albion's England; a continued historie of the same Kingdome..not barren in varietie of inventive and historicall intermixtures.
1673 R. Leigh Transproser Rehears'd 42 The absurdity of his inventive Divinity.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.c1450