as in intrinsic
being a part of the innermost nature of a person or thing
the proposition that liberty and justice are constitutive elements of an enlightened society
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Recent Examples of constitutive
Art critic Eva Diaz, writing for ArtReview, says that
Of the ‘creative’ pursuits, architecture is among the most dependent on big piles of capital in order to get its work off the ground: patronage is a constitutive yoke of the profession.
—
Matt Shaw, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025
Homoeroticism is of course constitutive of a great deal of classical statuary.
—Richard Meyer, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2025
After his beginnings at Modern Collections, Philbrick delved into corrupt financial machinations, enabled and empowered by the secrecy and instability that are constitutive features of the contemporary-art market.
—Rosa Lyster, The New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2024
That could require a new constitutive assembly, with a mission, charter, and political program that speaks to all Palestinians and eschews the stale language of the old PLO, a discourse imbued with the spirit of the mid-twentieth century but with no currency in the twenty-first.
—Hussein Agha, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2021
Serge’s simultaneous ambivalence about the status of the individual and sympathetic investment in individuals (and his keen eye for particulars) provides the constitutive tension of his best fiction.
—Ben Lerner, The New York Review of Books, 29 Dec. 2022
Neoliberals’ constitutive disenfranchisement of voters and all those without a foothold in the asset economy is very much still with us.
—Aaron Timms, The New Republic, 31 Oct. 2022
But in Meacham’s treatment, such personal details function as supporting pieces in a story designed around high-stakes campaign speeches, the constitutive ritual of inaugurations and grave moments of statesmanship.
—John Fabian Witt, Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2022
And both suggest that the impulse to cheat, cut corners and get over on chumps, if not inflict harm upon them outright, is far from some aberrant pathology in the American identity but rather a constitutive force.
—New York Times, 9 Feb. 2022
Matt Shaw, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025
Homoeroticism is of course constitutive of a great deal of classical statuary.
—Richard Meyer, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2025
After his beginnings at Modern Collections, Philbrick delved into corrupt financial machinations, enabled and empowered by the secrecy and instability that are constitutive features of the contemporary-art market.
—Rosa Lyster, The New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2024
That could require a new constitutive assembly, with a mission, charter, and political program that speaks to all Palestinians and eschews the stale language of the old PLO, a discourse imbued with the spirit of the mid-twentieth century but with no currency in the twenty-first.
—Hussein Agha, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2021
Serge’s simultaneous ambivalence about the status of the individual and sympathetic investment in individuals (and his keen eye for particulars) provides the constitutive tension of his best fiction.
—Ben Lerner, The New York Review of Books, 29 Dec. 2022
Neoliberals’ constitutive disenfranchisement of voters and all those without a foothold in the asset economy is very much still with us.
—Aaron Timms, The New Republic, 31 Oct. 2022
But in Meacham’s treatment, such personal details function as supporting pieces in a story designed around high-stakes campaign speeches, the constitutive ritual of inaugurations and grave moments of statesmanship.
—John Fabian Witt, Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2022
And both suggest that the impulse to cheat, cut corners and get over on chumps, if not inflict harm upon them outright, is far from some aberrant pathology in the American identity but rather a constitutive force.
—New York Times, 9 Feb. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for constitutive
Adjective
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For the Reposado expression, the tequila is then aged in American white oak barrels, a process that adds structure and refinement without overwhelming the agave's intrinsic character.—
Hudson Lindenberger,
Forbes.com,
25 Apr. 2025
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With more complete data, statisticians could then estimate the intrinsic value of activities through peoples’ stated and revealed preferences and create a framework for measuring consumption based on how people use their time rather than on material spending.—
Brian Deese,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Photograph: Courtesy of Sean Hartnoll For decades, physicists and mathematicians have wanted to show that these chaotic dynamics are not an artifact of the simplifying assumption of decoupling, but inherent to black holes.—
Lyndie Chiou,
Wired News,
20 Apr. 2025
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Watch less often and watch more than one network, taking inherent and obvious biases into account.—
Doug Ross,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Glyphosate is used widely as an integral part of raising crops including corn, soybeans and cotton genetically modified to resist its killer effect, and as a desiccant on potatoes, sugar beets, wheat and other crops just before harvest.—
John Klar,
Baltimore Sun,
27 Apr. 2025
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In Super Nintendo World, for example, restaurants and stores are integral parts of the narrative journey — offering moments of discovery and interaction, not simply transactions.—
Kate Hardcastle,
Forbes.com,
27 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Understanding and regulating the trade in shark and ray meat is no longer optional but essential.—
Melissa Cristina Márquez,
Forbes.com,
22 Apr. 2025
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Every child in New York deserves the chance to learn basic literacy, numeracy, science, and civics — skills essential for participating in society, holding a job, and fulfilling civic duties like voting or serving on a jury.—
David Bloomfield,
New York Daily News,
22 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Constitutive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/constitutive. Accessed 1 May. 2025.
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