decisive

See also: décisive

English

Etymology

From Middle French décisif, equivalent to decide +‎ -ive.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈsaɪsɪv/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪsɪv

Adjective

decisive (comparative more decisive, superlative most decisive)

1. Having the power or quality of deciding a question or controversy; putting an end to contest or controversy; final; conclusive.

   decisive vote

   decisive battle

   • 2011 November 3, Chris Bevan, “Rubin Kazan 1 - 0 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     In truth, Tottenham never really looked like taking all three points and this defeat means they face a battle to reach the knockout stages -with their next home game against PAOK Salonika on 30 November likely to prove decisive.

2. Decided; definite; incontrovertible.

   decisive victory

   • 1949, Joseph Campbell, “The Hero and the God”, in The Hero with a Thousand Faces:

     [F]abulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: […]

3. Marked by promptness and decision.

   decisive action

   • 1804, John Foster, Essays, in a Series of Letters:

     A noble instance of this attribute of the decisive character.

Synonyms

• decided
• positive
• conclusive

Antonyms

• indecisive

Derived terms

• decisively
• decisiveness

Related terms

• decidable
• decide
• decided

Translations

having the power or quality of deciding a question or controversy

• Azerbaijani: həlledici
• Bulgarian: решаващ (bg) (rešavašt)
• Catalan: decisiu (ca)
• Czech: rozhodující (cs), směrodatný
• Danish: afgørende
• Dutch: beslissend (nl), afdoend (nl), doorslaggevend (nl)
• Finnish: ratkaiseva (fi)
• French: décisif (fr)
• Galician: decisivo
• German: entscheidend (de), ausschlaggebend (de)
• Greek: αποφασιστικός (el) (apofasistikós)

  Ancient: κρίσιμος (krísimos)

• Hebrew: החלטי (hekhlet'y)
• Hungarian: döntő (hu), mérvadó (hu)
• Irish: cinntitheach, cinniúnach
• Italian: decisivo (it), determinante (it), sostanziale (it)
• Latvian: izšķirošs
• Persian: تعیین‌کننده
• Polish: decydujący (pl), przesądzający, rozsądzający
• Portuguese: decisivo (pt)
• Russian: решающий (ru) (rešajuščij)
• Serbo-Croatian: odlùčujūćī, prȅsudan (sh)
• Spanish: decisivo (es)
• Swedish: avgörande (sv), utslagsgivande, bestämmande (sv)
• Ukrainian: виріша́льний (vyrišálʹnyj)

marked by promptness and decision

• Azerbaijani: qəti (az)
• Bulgarian: решителен (bg) (rešitelen)
• Catalan: decisiu (ca)
• Czech: rozhodný (cs)
• Danish: beslutsom
• Dutch: besluitvaardig (nl), beslist (nl)
• Finnish: päättäväinen (fi)
• French: ferme (fr), décidé (fr)
• German: entschlussfreudig
• Greek: αποφασιστικός (el) (apofasistikós)
• Italian: decisivo (it), deciso (it)
• Polish: stanowczy (pl), zdecydowany (pl), bezapelacyjny
• Portuguese: decidido (pt)
• Russian: реши́тельный (ru) (rešítelʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: ȍdlūčan (sh)
• Spanish: decidido (es)
• Swedish: beslutsam (sv), fast (sv), resolut (sv), bestämd (sv)
• Ukrainian: рішу́чий (rišúčyj)

References

• “decisive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “decisive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

• “decisive”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• iDevices

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.t͡ʃiˈzi.ve/
• Rhymes: -ive
• Hyphenation: de‧ci‧sì‧ve

Adjective

decisive

1. feminine plural of decisivo