COMPARATIVE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does comparative mean? 

• COMPARATIVE (noun)
  The noun COMPARATIVE has 1 sense:

1. the comparative form of an adjective or adverb

  Familiarity information: COMPARATIVE used as a noun is very rare.

• COMPARATIVE (adjective)
  The adjective COMPARATIVE has 2 senses:

1. relating to or based on or involving comparison

2. estimated by comparison; not absolute or complete

  Familiarity information: COMPARATIVE used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COMPARATIVE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The comparative form of an adjective or adverb

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

comparative; comparative degree

Context example:

'more surely' is the comparative of the adverb 'surely'

Hypernyms ("comparative" is a kind of...):

adjective (a word that expresses an attribute of something)

adverb (a word that modifies something other than a noun)

Domain member usage:

best; better ((comparative and superlative of 'well') wiser or more advantageous and hence advisable)

better ((comparative of 'good') superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another)

finer ((comparative of 'fine') greater in quality or excellence)

worse ((comparative of 'bad') inferior to another in quality or condition or desirability)

better ((comparative of 'good') changed for the better in health or fitness)

farthermost; farthest; furthermost; furthest; utmost; uttermost ((comparatives of 'far') most remote in space or time or order)

earlier; earliest ((comparative and superlative of 'early') more early than; most early)

more; more than ((comparative of 'much' used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree)

less ((comparative of 'little' usually used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning not as great in amount or degree)

more ((comparative of 'many' used with count nouns) quantifier meaning greater in number)

fewer ((comparative of 'few' used with count nouns) quantifier meaning a smaller number of)

worse ((comparative of 'ill') in a less effective or successful or desirable manner)

closer; nearer; nigher ((comparative of 'near' or 'close') within a shorter distance)

Derivation:

comparative (relating to or based on or involving comparison)

• COMPARATIVE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Relating to or based on or involving comparison

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

the comparative form of an adjective

Pertainym:

comparison (relation based on similarities and differences)

Derivation:

comparative (the comparative form of an adjective or adverb)

compare (consider or describe as similar, equal, or analogous)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Estimated by comparison; not absolute or complete

Synonyms:

comparative; relative

Context example:

a relative stranger

Similar:

relational (having a relation or being related)

Derivation:

compare (examine and note the similarities or differences of)

compare (consider or describe as similar, equal, or analogous)

 Context examples 

It was comparative, a period of less misery slipped in between a past of great miseries and a future of great miseries.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The science devoted to the comparative study of man.

(Anthropology, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Had it been but one, it had been easy, comparative.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

"I should have thought that even a limited knowledge of comparative anatomy would have helped to verify it," said Summerlee, bitterly.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) is a technique that allows the detection of losses and gains in DNA copy number across the entire genome without prior knowledge of specific chromosomal abnormalities.

(Comparative Genomic Hybridization, NCI Thesaurus)

The log-house was full of smoke, to which we owed our comparative safety.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I fear, my friend, that I shall render myself tedious by dwelling on these preliminary circumstances; but they were days of comparative happiness, and I think of them with pleasure.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Hydrocortisone used as a placebo in comparative studies.

(Hydrocortisone/Placebo, NCI Thesaurus)

A non-profit organization specializing in bioinformatics tool development and comparative genomics research.

(Fellowship for the Interpretation of Genomes, NCI Thesaurus)

It seemed I could hear all that was to come—whatever the disclosures might be—with comparative tranquillity.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)