EXPRESSIVE


Meaning of EXPRESSIVE in English

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

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.