Basic Details
Word: Inventive
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Good at thinking of new and clever ideas; creative.
Synonyms: creative, imaginative, original, clever
Antonyms: unimaginative, dull
How to Spell Inventive
Syllables: in - ven - tive
Tricky part: Keep the t of invent and add ive. Leaving off the final e (inventiv) or writing a c for the t are common errors.
Watch out for: inventiv, invencive, inventeve
Memory tip: An inventive mind can invent: write the verb invent and stick ive on the end.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Sunita found an inventive way to keep her plants watered while she was on holiday.
Example 2: The inventive cook turned leftover rice into crispy cutlets.
Example 3: Our art teacher praised the inventive use of waste paper in the model.
Fun Fact
Thomas Edison, often held up as an inventive mind, was granted more than a thousand patents in the United States.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Only one of these words takes the suffix given to make a real word. Choose it:
Suffix: ive
a) find
b) imagine
c) invent
d) discover
Show answer
c) invent. Invent + ive is inventive; imagine needs ative and the others take no such ending.
Word Connection
Choose the word opposite in meaning to inventive as used in the sentence:
The inventive design of the solar cooker won first prize at the district science fair.
a) original
b) creative
c) clever
d) unimaginative
Show answer
d) unimaginative. Three options praise the design; unimaginative is the only one that does not.
Mingle-Mangle
Rearrange the jumbled letters in the sentence to find the right word:
My grandfather is so nivetivne that he fixed the fan with a hairclip.
a) inventive
b) intensive
c) invective
d) invasive
Show answer
a) inventive. Fixing a fan with a hairclip is clever, and the letters have no s, c or a.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. An inventive student is one who ____.
a) always arrives late
b) copies others' work
c) comes up with fresh ideas
d) never speaks in class
Show answer
c) comes up with fresh ideas
2. Which noun names the quality of being inventive?
a) inventance
b) inventivity
c) inventiveness
d) inventment
Show answer
c) inventiveness
