generative

adjective

gen·​er·​a·​tive ˈje-nə-rə-tiv How to pronounce generative (audio)
ˈjen-rə-tiv,
ˈje-nə-ˌrā-tiv How to pronounce generative (audio)
: having the power or function of generating, originating, producing, or reproducing
… Elizabeth Gilbert dives into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity.Camryn La Sala
… her gift is essentially organizational rather than generative.Martin Filler
: such as
a
biology : of or relating to the production of offspring
vegetative and generative plant growth
the generative organs of mammals
see also generative cell, generative nucleus
b
computing : using artificial intelligence algorithms to create complete units of content (such as text compositions, images, audio, or video) based on a broad corpus of material
Unlike the phone's predictive text feature, ChatGPT is said to be generative (the G in GPT).JoElla Carman and Jasmine Cui
see also generative AI

Examples of generative in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Anthropic's Claude models and AI assistant have exploded in popularity as more businesses work to incorporate generative AI across marketing, sales and other customer service functions. Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 15 July 2025 While this exploratory stage is important, generative AI must ultimately be treated as foundational infrastructure, similar to broadband connectivity or cloud architecture. Ron Shevlin, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025 In 2019, there were about 18,000 deepfakes globally, and this year, there have been roughly 2 trillion generative creations, said Vermillio Chief Executive and co-founder Dan Neely. Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2025 One of the threats to human creators is generative artificial intelligence, where platforms like Suno and Udio can spit out whole musical compositions. Audrey Gibbs, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for generative

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of generative was in the 14th century

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Cite this Entry

“Generative.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/generative. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.

Medical Definition

generative

adjective
gen·​er·​a·​tive ˈjen-(ə-)rət-iv How to pronounce generative (audio) -ə-ˌrāt- How to pronounce generative (audio)
: having the power or function of propagating or reproducing
generative organs

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