Skip to main content
contractive

contractive

7.3
Tending to make something smaller or bring parts closer together
  • adjective
  • /kənˈtræktɪv/
translation icon : contractivo
  • Her dress had a contractive design that hugged her figure closely, emphasizing her curves.

Examples

  • I'm doing like lots of little tiny creases in order to approximate that contractive mapping, contractive folding.

  • The contractive forces within the material caused it to shrink significantly during the cooling process.

  • Feasibility is simply determined by the product of all minimum weights, which must be less (less than or equal) than unity for a stabilizable and contractive (invariant) polytope, and a corresponding switching signal.

    Academic text (2010)
  • Using a contractive technique can help in minimizing the size of a design or graphic element.

Synonyms

contractile
vscontractive
  • Specialized
7.4

Able to get smaller by tightening, like muscle tissue

tends to cause reduction rather than simply having the ability to shorten
contractible
vscontractive
7.0

Can get smaller when it tightens or gets cold

is about causing reduction rather than being passively reducible
constrictive
vscontractive
6.2

Making something tight so it is hard to move

focuses on reducing overall size rather than mainly tightening or restricting
contractionary
vscontractive
  • Specialized
8.2

That causes muscles or tissues to become tighter and shorter

is a general tendency to reduce size, not limited to medical use

Antonyms

7 5.8

Able to get larger and take up more space

How Contractive

to collapse
579 3.9
contractive
7.3
expansive
7 5.8

Surface Forms

contractive positive

Morphology

contractive = contract (transparent) = contract + ive

Standard adjectival formation indicating tendency to make smaller; meaning is directly compositional.

Etymology

The word contractive comes from the Latin parts con- 'together' and tract 'pull', so it means 'bringing things closer' or making them smaller. That is why a contractive force shortens an object, and in math a contractive function brings points nearer to each other.