Creatively

How to spell creatively

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce creatively

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does creatively mean?

1. adverbIn a way that shows imagination or original thinking.

Creatively in a sentence

• The team solved the budget shortfall creatively without cutting any staff.

• She decorated the small flat creatively using salvaged furniture.

Where does creatively come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb creare, which meant 'to make', 'to bring forth', or 'to produce', and which is also the source of words like 'create', 'creature', and 'procreate'. The adjective 'creative' formed in English in the 1600s to describe the power to make something new, and the adverb 'creatively' followed by adding the familiar manner-forming ending '-ly'. The path into English ran largely through Latin and the scholarly vocabulary of the Renaissance, when ideas of original artistic and intellectual making were much discussed. The spelling keeps a hidden second 'e' from the Latin root because 'create' ends in a silent 'e', which is dropped before the '-ive' suffix; that quiet rearrangement is exactly the spot where writers hesitate. Notice that the 'e' you hear at the front survives, but the silent 'e' of 'create' vanishes, leaving the neat sequence creat-ive-ly.

How the word is built

• creat- (from Latin creare: to make, bring forth)
• -ive (adjective: tending to)
• -ly (adverb: in the manner of)