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abortive

a·bor·tive
A a

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [uh-bawr-tiv]
    • /əˈbɔr tɪv/
    • /əˈbɔː.tɪv/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [uh-bawr-tiv]
    • /əˈbɔr tɪv/

Definitions of abortive word

  • adjective abortive An abortive attempt or action is unsuccessful. 3
  • adjective abortive failing to achieve a purpose; fruitless 3
  • adjective abortive (of organisms) imperfectly developed; rudimentary 3
  • adjective abortive causing abortion; abortifacient 3
  • adjective abortive coming to nothing; unsuccessful; fruitless 3
  • adjective abortive arrested in development; rudimentary 3

Information block about the term

Origin of abortive

First appearance:

before 1300
One of the 15% oldest English words
First recorded in 1300-50; Middle English word from Latin word abortīvus. See abort, -ive

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Abortive

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

abortive popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 75% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

abortive usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for abortive

adj abortive

  • fruitless — useless; unproductive; without results or success: a fruitless search for the missing treasure.
  • futile — incapable of producing any result; ineffective; useless; not successful: Attempting to force-feed the sick horse was futile.
  • unsuccessful — not achieving or not attended with success: an unsuccessful person; an unsuccessful venture.
  • failing — Slang. an embarrassing or humorous mistake, humiliating situation, etc., that is subject to ridicule and given an exaggerated importance: Their app update is a massive fail. the condition or quality resulting from having failed in this way: His online post is full of fail. a person who fails in this way.
  • ineffective — not effective; not producing results; ineffectual: ineffective efforts; ineffective remedies.

adjective abortive

  • bungled — to do clumsily and awkwardly; botch: He bungled the job.
  • stillborn — dead when born.
  • unfruitful — not providing satisfaction; unprofitable: unfruitful efforts.

Antonyms for abortive

adj abortive

  • fruitful — producing good results; beneficial; profitable: fruitful investigations.
  • productive — having the power of producing; generative; creative: a productive effort.
  • profitable — yielding profit; remunerative: a profitable deal.
  • effectual — producing or capable of producing an intended effect; adequate.
  • efficient — (esp. of a system or machine) Achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.

Top questions with abortive

  • what is the meaning of abortive?
  • what does abortive mean?

See also

Matching words

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