creative

See also: créative

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin creativus, from Latin creō. Equivalent to create +‎ -ive. Displaced native Old English orþanclīċ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɹiˈeɪtɪv/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪtɪv

Adjective

creative (comparative more creative, superlative most creative)

1. Tending to create things, or having the ability to create; often, excellently, in a novel fashion, or any or all of these.

   a creative dramatist who avoids cliche

   • 2025 January 23, Joshua Stylman, The Algorithmic Age‎^[1]:

     The future belongs to those aware enough to see the system, brave enough to reject it, and creative enough to build something better.

2. (of a created thing) Original, expressive and imaginative.

   a creative new solution to an old problem

3. (set theory) A type of set of natural numbers, related to mathematical logic.

   a creative set

4. Designed or executed to deceive or mislead.

   creative accounting

5. (euphemistic, of art) bad, unartistic, busy.

Synonyms

• inventive
• original
• Promethean

Antonyms

• imitative (tend to model an extant thing)
• annihilative (tend to make extinct)

Derived terms

• anticreative
• cocreative
• creatify
• creative accounting
• creative block
• creative class
• creative destruction
• creative differences
• creative energy
• creativelike
• creatively
• creativeness
• creative nonfiction
• creative sentence, creative sentencing
• creative set
• creative spelling
• creative work
• creative writing
• creativity
• creativize
• hypercreative
• miscreative
• noncreative
• overcreative
• precreative
• pre-creative
• semicreative
• subcreative
• uncreative
• undercreative

Related terms

• create
• creation
• creationism
• creationist
• creator

Translations

having the ability to create

• Arabic: خَلَّاق (ḵallāq), إِبْداعِيّ (ʔibdāʕiyy)
• Armenian: ստեղծարար (hy) (steġcarar), ստեղծագործ (hy) (steġcagorc), ստեղծագործական (hy) (steġcagorcakan), կրեատիվ (hy) (kreativ)
• Belarusian: тво́рчы (tvórčy)
• Bulgarian: творчески (bg) (tvorčeski), съзидателен (bg) (sǎzidatelen)
• Catalan: creatiu (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: tvořivý (cs)
• Dutch: creatief (nl)
• Esperanto: krea, kreema
• Finnish: luova (fi)
• French: créatif (fr)
• Galician: creativo
• Georgian: შემოქმედებითი (šemokmedebiti), კრეატიული (ḳreaṭiuli)
• German: kreativ (de), schöpferisch (de)
• Greek: δημιουργικός (el) (dimiourgikós)
• Hebrew: יצירתי (he) m (yetsiratí)
• Hungarian: alkotó (hu), kreatív (hu)
• Icelandic: skapandi
• Italian: creativo (it)
• Japanese: 創造的な (ja) (sōzōteki na), 独創的 (ja) (dokusōteki na)
• Khmer: ច្នៃប្រឌិត (cnayprɑɑdɨt)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Malay: berdaya cipta, kreatif
• Maori: auaha
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: skapende
• Old English: orþanclīċ
• Polish: twórczy (pl)
• Portuguese: criativo (pt), criador (pt)
• Romanian: creativ (ro), creator (ro), inventiv (ro)
• Russian: созида́тельный (ru) (sozidátelʹnyj), тво́рческий (ru) (tvórčeskij)
• Spanish: creativo (es)
• Swedish: kreativ (sv)
• Tagalog: malikhain
• Telugu: సృజనాత్మక (sr̥janātmaka)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: yaratıcı (tr)
• Ukrainian: тво́рчий (uk) (tvórčyj)
• Vietnamese: sáng tạo (vi)
• Welsh: creadigol (cy)

original, expressive, and imaginative

• Armenian: ստեղծագործական (hy) (steġcagorcakan), կրեատիվ (hy) (kreativ)
• Belarusian: тво́рчы (tvórčy)
• Bulgarian: творчески (bg) (tvorčeski)
• Catalan: creatiu (ca)
• Czech: tvořivý (cs)
• Dutch: creatief (nl), kunstzinnig (nl)
• Finnish: luova (fi)
• French: créatif (fr)
• Galician: creativo
• Georgian: შემოქმედებითი (šemokmedebiti), კრეატიული (ḳreaṭiuli), ორიგინალური (originaluri)
• German: kreativ (de), originell (de)
• Greek: δημιουργικός (el) (dimiourgikós)
• Hungarian: ötletes (hu), találékony (hu)
• Icelandic: skapandi
• Italian: creativo (it)
• Japanese: 創造的な (ja) (sōzōteki na), 独創的 (ja) (dokusōteki na)
• Latin: ingeniosus
• Norwegian: oppfinnsom, kreativ
• Old English: orþanclīċ
• Polish: twórczy (pl), kreatywny (pl)
• Portuguese: criativo (pt)
• Romanian: creativ (ro)
• Spanish: creativo (es)
• Swedish: kreativ (sv)
• Tagalog: malikhain
• Telugu: సృజనాత్మక (sr̥janātmaka)
• Thai: สร้างสรรค์ (th) (sâang-sǎn)
• Turkish: yaratıcı (tr)
• Ukrainian: тво́рчий (uk) (tvórčyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} יצירתי (he) (yetziraty) (2)

Noun

creative (countable and uncountable, plural creatives)

2. (countable) A person directly involved in a creative marketing process.

   He is a visionary creative.

3. (uncountable) Artistic material used in advertising, e.g. photographs, drawings, or video.

   The design team has completed the creative for next month's multi-part ad campaign.

   I've included in my portfolio all the creative I've completed in my five year design career.

Translations

person directly involved in a creative marketing process

• Catalan: creatiu (ca)
• Dutch: creatief (nl)
• Finnish: luovan työn tekijä
• French: créatif (fr) m, créative (fr) f
• Hungarian: alkotó (hu)
• Italian: creativo (it) m, creativa (it) f
• Portuguese: criativo (pt) m, criativa f
• Spanish: creativo (es) m, creativa (es) f

artistic material

• Finnish: visumateriaali, visut pl

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} créatif (fr) m, ^{(please verify)} créative (fr) f
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} יוצר (he) m (yotzer), ^{(please verify)} יוצרת f (yotzeret) (1)
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} alkotó (hu), ^{(please verify)} kreatív (hu)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} creativo (it) m, ^{(please verify)} creativa (it) f
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 창조적인 (changjojeogin)
• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 創造性的 / 创造性的 (zh), ^{(please verify)} 创造性的 (zh)
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} kreativ
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} creativo (es) m, ^{(please verify)} creativa (es) f
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} kreativ (sv)

References

• “creative”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• creative in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• "creative" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 82.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “creative”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• reactive

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kre.aˈti.ve/
• Rhymes: -ive
• Hyphenation: cre‧a‧tì‧ve

Adjective

creative f pl

1. feminine plural of creativo

Anagrams

• createvi, recatevi