Meaning of comparative in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Classifying Adjective
    1. Definitions
  3. Noun
    1. Definitions
  4. Qualitative Adjective
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /kəmˈpɛrədɪv/

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  1. Classifying Adjective

    comparative

    Definitions

    1. having significance only in relation to something else

    Examples

    • « a comparative newcomer »

    Synonyms

  2. Noun

    comparative

    Definitions

    1. the comparative form of an adjective

    Examples

    • « 'better' is the comparative of 'good' »

  3. Qualitative Adjective

    comparative

    Etymology

    late Middle English (in comparative (sense 3 of the adjective)): from Latin comparativus, from comparare‘to pair, match’ (see compare)

    Definitions

    1. relating to or based on or involving comparison

    Examples

    • « comparative linguistics »

Famous quotes

  • « I'm at peace with myself and where I am. In the past, I was always looking to see how everybody else was doing. I wasn't competitive, I was comparative. I just wanted to be where everybody else was. Now I've gotten to an age when I am not comparing anymore. »
    Courteney Cox
  • « There is a great interest in comparative religion and a desire to understand faiths other than our own and even to experiment with exotic cults. »
    Emily Greene Balch
  • « I think our failure in the production of good town churches of distinctive character must have struck you often, as it has me, when contrasted with our comparative success in country churches. »
    George Edmund Street

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