Skip to main content
explorative

explorative

1 5.0
To find new information or ideas by trying things
  • adjective
  • /ɪkˈsplɔːrətɪv/
translation icon : exploratorio
  • Drama teachers often develop and use explorative improvisation exercises like those on the television show Whose Line Is It Anyway?
  • an explorative route
  • an explorative set

If you can realize that you will be excited, you will be explorative, you'll be curious.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • The observations on explorative routes are important as they lead to a better understanding of the unexplored area.

    Academic text (2016)
  • We used an explorative design with an inductive approach to category development that is applicable to the investigation of understudied phenomena.

    Academic text (2017)
  • The general nature of the study was explorative.

    Academic text (2002)
  • One team member from each team was interviewed in order to provide variety in supporting our explorative aim.

    Academic text (2018)
  • His teacher embedded a variety of explorative activities into her classroom.

    Academic text (2007)
  • The present study is explorative and small-scale.

    Academic text (2018)
  • So let us consider launching the first explorative ship ever to sail into this uncharted ocean.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Despite student anxiety, educators should construct evaluations that emphasize explorative rather than restrictive exam responses and creativity over mastery of learned content.

    Academic text (2003)
  • In our science class, we engaged in explorative projects that helped us discover new concepts.

  • The documentary was explorative, examining previously uncharted territories and cultures.

Synonyms

investigative
vsexplorative
179 5.1

Made to find out facts by careful checking

is broader and covers general search rather than only fact finding
exploratory
vsexplorative
31 5.2

Done to find out more about something

is the alternative adjective form used in the same situations
investigational
vsexplorative
  • Specialized
1 7.2

Relating to a new treatment or vaccine that is being tested in people

is the general sense used beyond technical testing or medical study

How Exploratory

investigative
179 5.1
probing
1 6.5
explorative
1 5.0
preliminary
325 5.2
tentative
57 5.1

Surface Forms

explorative positive

Morphology

explorative = explore (transparent) = explore + ative

The adjective is clearly formed by adding the productive adjective-forming suffix '-ative' to 'explore', yielding 'serving for or relating to exploration', which is directly inferable from the base.

Etymology

The word explorative comes from the Latin verb explorare, which meant 'to find out' or 'to scout out'. Think of explore and explorer — something explorative is meant to go 'out' and discover, test, or investigate new things, which is why it describes a search or investigation.