Operative - definition, pronunciation, transcription

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Amer.  |ˈɑːpərətɪv|  American pronunciation of the word operative
Brit.  |ˈɒp(ə)rətɪv|  British pronunciation of the word operative

noun

- a person secretly employed in espionage for a government
- someone who can be employed as a detective to collect information (syn: pi)

adjective

- effective; producing a desired effect
the operative word
- (of e.g. a machine) performing or capable of performing (syn: functional, running, working)

Extra examples

The factory must pass inspection before it becomes operative.

The telephone system is now fully operative.

If I go, I will bring a salad. “If,” however, is the operative word, since I am not sure that I can go.

...CIA operatives take terrible risks to find out the secrets of foreign countries....

...set in the 1930s, the novel is about a washed-out operative working for a third-rate detective agency...

My car was still in an operative condition.

I really had no operative motives for doing it.

She was given an operative dose of the medicine.

After all, she didn't bring the boy on that operative Saturday.

Only one runway is operative.

The new system offers fast solutions. Fast being the operative word.

Word forms

noun
singular: operative
plural: operatives
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