ikˈspresiv, ek-, -sēv also -səv adjective
1. : of or relating to expression
the expressive function of language
architecture … has its limitations as an expressive medium — Robin Boyd
2. : serving to express, utter, or represent : indicative
spent much time in Arizona … and left many canvases expressive of its vitality and color — American Guide Series: Arizona
poems and prayers … expressive of the deepest religious experiences — Saturday Review
3. : forcefully representing the meaning or feeling meant to be conveyed : full of expression : significant , emphatic
richly expressive gestures
an expressive silence
a homely whistling sound which … was terribly expressive — William Zukerman
still cling to their “'tain't so” and “'twan't nothin'” because their fathers found these so expressive — American Guide Series: North Carolina
Synonyms:
eloquent , significant , meaningful , pregnant , sententious : expressive describes that which clearly shows or communicates an idea, mood, or emotion forcefully or vividly
her forehead had been strikingly expressive of an engrossing terror and compassion that saw nothing but the peril of the accused — Charles Dickens
he used foul and novel terms expressive of rage — H.G.Wells
described by such epithets as vital, characteristic, picturesque, individual — in short, on the element that may be summed up by the epithet expressive — Irving Babbitt
eloquent may intensify the notions of expressive , especially in evoking emotional ideas or arousing deep feeling
no man is eloquent save when someone is moved as he listens — John Dewey
there was a burst of applause, and a deep silence which was even more eloquent than the applause — Thomas Hardy
I could scarcely remove my eyes from her eloquent countenance: I seemed to read in it relief and gladness mingled with surprise and something like vexation — W.H.Hudson †1922
significant is applicable to whatever expresses a meaning, sometimes a covert or hidden meaning, sometimes a clearly ascertainable idea, sometimes an important meaning
those who lay down that every sentence must end on a significant word, never on a preposition — Havelock Ellis
every sentence is doubly significant, and the sense of our author is as broad as the world — S.P.Sherman
meaningful may have the suggestion of significant; it may be used simply to indicate presence of meaning
some brilliant minds to whom the carefully turned phrase and the meaningful metaphor are very important — D.W.Maurer & V.H.Vogel
pregnant may describe that which conveys a rich or weighty meaning, often with force or conciseness
who has not had the experience of resolving a difficulty with the help of a sentence pregnant with life's meaning, some well-phrased words of wisdom, or a poem that came to mind at a critical moment? — Vivian T. Thayer
no talent for revealing a character or resuming the significance of an episode in a single pregnant phrase — W.S.Maugham
sententious may apply to what is full of significance and expressed tersely
clarity is gained by a brief and almost sententious statement at the outset of the problem to be attacked — B.N.Cardozo
the peculiarly sardonic and sententious style in which Don Luis composed his epigrams — Hervey Allen