PRODUCTIVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does productive mean? 

• PRODUCTIVE (adjective)
  The adjective PRODUCTIVE has 4 senses:

1. producing or capable of producing (especially abundantly)

2. having the ability to produce or originate

3. yielding positive results

4. marked by great fruitfulness

  Familiarity information: PRODUCTIVE used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PRODUCTIVE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Producing or capable of producing (especially abundantly)

Context example:

a productive collaboration

Similar:

amentaceous; amentiferous ((of plants) bearing or characterized by aments or catkins)

arable; cultivable; cultivatable; tillable ((of farmland) capable of being farmed productively)

fecund; fertile; prolific (intellectually productive)

fur-bearing (of animals having fur (especially of commercial quality))

nut-bearing ((of shrubs or trees) producing nuts)

oil-bearing (containing oil)

rich (very productive)

Also:

creative; originative (having the ability or power to create)

fertile (capable of reproducing)

fruitful (productive or conducive to producing in abundance)

profitable (yielding material gain or profit)

successful (having succeeded or being marked by a favorable outcome)

Antonym:

unproductive (not producing or capable of producing)

Derivation:

productiveness; productivity (the quality of being productive or having the power to produce)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Having the ability to produce or originate

Synonyms:

generative; productive

Context example:

generative forces

Derivation:

productiveness (the quality of being productive or having the power to produce)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Yielding positive results

Similar:

successful (having succeeded or being marked by a favorable outcome)

Derivation:

productiveness (the quality of being productive or having the power to produce)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Marked by great fruitfulness

Synonyms:

fat; fertile; productive; rich

Context example:

rich soil

Similar:

fruitful (productive or conducive to producing in abundance)

Derivation:

productiveness (the quality of being productive or having the power to produce)

 Context examples 

The trip would be highly productive if taken after March 24.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

This reduces the viscosity of mucus and makes the cough more productive.

(Entex, NCI Thesaurus)

With treatment, most people with mood disorders can lead productive lives.

(Mood Disorders, NIH)

Signs and symptoms include shortness of breath, wheezing, productive cough, and chest tightness.

(Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, NCI Thesaurus)

Of very important, very recordable events, it was not more productive than such meetings usually are.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Their findings contrast with previous discoveries that oxygen was absent from all but the top few millimeters to decimeters of sediment in biologically productive regions of the ocean.

(No limit to life in deep sediment of ocean's "deadest" region, NSF)

Globally important ocean algae called coccolithophores are mysteriously scarce in one of the most productive regions of the Atlantic Ocean.

(Study reveals changing patterns in globally important algae, National Science Foundation)

With support and treatment, many people with Down syndrome live happy, productive lives.

(Down Syndrome, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

This mechanism provides support for supervised study and research for clinically trained professionals who have the potential to develop into productive, clinical investigators focusing on patient-oriented research.

(Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award, NCI Thesaurus)

The productive enterprises concerned with food processing.

(Food Industry, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)