Synonyms for operative
ˈɒp ər ə tɪv, ˈɒp rə tɪv, ˈɒp əˌreɪ tɪvop·er·a·tive

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. operative

   Artist, artificer and artisan are all from the root of art, but artist holds to the esthetic sense, while artificer and artisan follow the mechanical or industrial sense of the word (see ART under SCIENCE). Artist thus comes only into accidental association with the other words of this group, not being a synonym of any one of them and having practically no synonym of its own. The work of the artist is creative; that of the artisan mechanical. The man who paints a beautiful picture is an artist; the man who makes pin-heads all day is an artisan. The artificer is between the two, putting more thought, intelligence, and taste into his work than the artisan, but less of the idealizing, creative power than the artist. The sculptor, shaping his model in clay, is artificer, as well as artist; patient artisans, working simply by rule and scale, chisel and polish the stone. The man who constructs anything by mere routine and rule is a mechanic. The man whose work involves thought, skill, and constructive power is an artificer. The hod-carrier is a laborer; the bricklayer is a mechanic; the master mason is an artificer. Those who operate machinery nearly self-acting are operatives.

   Synonyms:
   artificer, artisan, artist, mechanic, workman

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. operative

   Synonyms:
   active, efficacious, serviceable, binding

   Antonyms:
   inefficacious, inoperative

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. secret agent, intelligence officer, intelligence agent, operativenoun

   a person secretly employed in espionage for a government

   Synonyms:
   intelligence officer, private detective, sherlock, private eye, private investigator, intelligence agent, shamus, secret agent

   Antonyms:
   down, insignificant, unimportant, defunct, malfunctioning, dead, nonfunctional, inoperative

2. private detective, PI, private eye, private investigator, operative, shamus, sherlockadjective

   someone who can be employed as a detective to collect information

   Synonyms:
   private investigator, private detective, intelligence officer, sherlock, private eye, intelligence agent, shamus, protease inhibitor, secret agent, principal investigator

   Antonyms:
   malfunctioning, defunct, nonfunctional, inoperative, unimportant, down, insignificant, dead

3. operativeadjective

   being in force or having or exerting force

   "operative regulations"; "the major tendencies operative in the American political system"

   Synonyms:
   functional, running(a), working(a), surgical

   Antonyms:
   dead, unimportant, malfunctioning, insignificant, nonfunctional, defunct, inoperative, down

4. surgical, operativeadjective

   relating to or requiring or amenable to treatment by surgery especially as opposed to medicine

   "a surgical appendix"; "a surgical procedure"; "operative dentistry"

   Synonyms:
   functional, running(a), working(a), surgical

   Antonyms:
   inoperative, dead, malfunctioning, unimportant, defunct, nonfunctional, down, insignificant

5. operativeadjective

   effective; producing a desired effect

   "the operative word"

   Synonyms:
   functional, running(a), working(a), surgical

   Antonyms:
   nonfunctional, down, insignificant, defunct, malfunctioning, dead, unimportant, inoperative

6. running(a), operative, functional, working(a)adjective

   (of e.g. a machine) performing or capable of performing

   "in running (or working) order"; "a functional set of brakes"

   Antonyms:
   unimportant, defunct, down, insignificant, dead, malfunctioning, nonfunctional, inoperative

Matched Categories

1. • Agent

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. operativeadjective

   Synonyms:
   acting, active, in action, in operation

2. operativeadjective

   Synonyms:
   effective, efficient, effectual, efficacious, serviceable

3. operativenoun

   Synonyms:
   laborer, artisan, laboring man, common workman

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "operative":

   operational, dispositif, device, operating

How to pronounce operative?

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How to use operative in a sentence?

1. Abid Naseer:

   Abid is innocent, he is not a terrorist. He is not an al-Qaida operative.

2. Ryan Williams:

   [Parscale] is a capable political operative who also is someone trusted by the Trump inner circle and understands the uniqueness of the Trump organization and Trump himself.

3. Sarah Turberville:

   The fact that Matthew Whitaker is a political operative isn't itself disqualifying, but I think where there are some concerns is the fact that Matthew Whitaker had been head of this very partisan organization for a number of years and that is what raises some alarm bells about Matthew Whitaker ability to impartially carry out the duties of attorney general of the United States.

4. Henry Watton:

   In architecture as in all other operative arts, the end must direct the operation. The end is to build well. Well building has three conditions Commodity, Firmness and Delight.

5. Len Foxwell:

   He was not a crook, he was a career government relations official, political operative and government worker who got caught up in a situation that spiraled out of control.