Creative

How to spell creative

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce creative

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does creative mean?

1. adjectiveShowing imagination, originality, or inventiveness in producing new ideas or work.
2. nounA person whose work involves imagination and original ideas, especially in advertising, media, or design.

Creative in a sentence

• adjective

  The marketing team needed a more creative approach to win the contract.

• noun

  The agency hired a talented creative to lead the new campaign.

• adjective

  Her creative solution saved the company thousands of pounds.

• noun

  As a creative, she thrived on briefs that demanded fresh thinking.

Where does creative come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb creare, meaning 'to make, to produce, or to bring into being', the same root that gives us 'create' and 'creature'. The Latin past participle creatus generated the late form creativus, which carried the sense of 'having the power to make'. English adopted 'creative' in the 1600s, initially in theological and philosophical writing about the power of bringing things into existence. Over time the meaning broadened from divine making to the everyday human inventiveness we associate with art, design, and original thinking. The spelling preserves the older -ate to -ive transformation, which is why the silent 'e' of 'create' survives as the 'e' in the middle, and the ending is -ive rather than the sound-alike -ative trap that catches some writers.

How the word is built

• cre- (from creare: to make, bring forth)
• -ate (verb root)
• -ive (adjective suffix: tending to)