What does illustrative mean?
Word: Illustrative
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Illustrative means serving to make something clearer, especially through an example or a picture.
Synonyms: representative
How do you spell illustrative?
Syllables: il - lus - tra - tive
Tricky part: Two l's start the word, and no e comes before the tive ending, though some students keep one and write illustrateive.
Watch out for: ilustrative, illustrateive
Memory tip: An illustration throws light on an idea, and the word goes back to Latin lustrare, 'to light up': il + lus gives the two l's at the start.
Illustrative in a sentence
Example 1: The guidebook includes illustrative maps of every trek.
Example 2: Here is an illustrative case from last year's science fair.
Example 3: Her talk was full of illustrative stories from village life.
Fun Fact
Food packets in India often print a line such as 'picture for illustrative purpose only', a warning that the dish on the box may look different from what is inside.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Only one of these words takes the suffix ive to form an adjective. Choose it.
ive
a) draw
b) illustrate
c) sketch
d) picture
Show answer
b) illustrate. The verb on this page drops its e and takes ive; pictive, drawive and sketchive are not words.
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
illus_r_tive
a) t, e
b) t, i
c) d, a
d) t, a
Show answer
d) t, a. After the s come the letters tra, the same three that end the word extra.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word illustrative as used in the sentence:
The teacher gave an illustrative example of a simile from a Tagore poem.
a) confusing
b) unrelated
c) lengthy
d) explanatory
Show answer
d) explanatory. An illustrative example explains a point by showing it, so it is explanatory.
Spell-o-Spell
One word below is spelt right. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. descriptve 2. informitive 3. illustrative 4. persuassive
a) able to make people agree
b) saying what something is like
c) used as an example to show what is meant
d) giving useful facts
Show answer
c) used as an example to show what is meant. Descriptive has an i after the t, informative has ative, and persuasive has one s in the middle.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. An illustrative diagram in a science book is meant to ____.
a) fill empty space on the page
b) show the publisher's logo
c) help explain an idea
d) test the reader's memory
Show answer
c) help explain an idea
2. An illustrative sentence in a dictionary entry ____.
a) shows how to say it
b) lists words that rhyme with it
c) gives the word's history
d) shows how the word is used
Show answer
d) shows how the word is used
