Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Tending to be responsive or to react to a stimulus.
  • adjective Characterized by reaction.
  • adjective Chemistry & Physics Tending to participate readily in reactions.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to or causing reaction; acting reflexively or reciprocally; resulting from reflex action.
  • In alternating-current circuits, same as wattless.
  • noun A reagent.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Having power to react; tending to reaction; of the nature of reaction.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective that reacts or responds to a stimulus
  • adjective chemistry that readily takes part in reactions
  • adjective electronics Characterized by induction or capacitance rather than resistance.
  • adjective Reacting to the past rather than anticipating the future, not predictive.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective reacting to a stimulus
  • adjective participating readily in reactions

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The author then enters into a discussion of the use of the term reactive tendency, and explains that this term, according to his definition, is meant to explain something more specific than an inclination to direct activity toward one of a limited number of general ends, and to include both the innate and the acquired features of an individual's reactive mechanism.

    The Journal of Abnormal Psychology 1916

  • Georgia suffered from troubled breathing when she had a cold or a cough, and had been in the ER twice for what they call reactive airway disease -- or heavy wheezing due to constricted airways.

    Safe? Sound? A Parent's Nightmare 2008

  • The hospital said on its website over the weekend the mistake occurred because a transplant staffer believed he heard the English word "non-reactive" on the donor's standard HIV test, while the word "reactive" was actually given.

    Breaking News: CBS News 2011

  • In a posting on its website over the weekend, the hospital said the mistake occurred because a transplant staffer believed he heard the English word "non-reactive" on the donor's standard HIV test, which means negative, while the word "reactive" was actually given.

    SFGate: Top News Stories By ANNIE HUANG 2011

  • The hospital said on its website over the weekend the mistake occurred because a transplant staffer believed he heard the English word "non-reactive" on the donor's standard HIV test, while the word "reactive" was actually given.

    The Seattle Times 2011

  • The hospital said on its website over the weekend the mistake occurred because a transplant staffer believed he heard the English word "non-reactive" on the donor's standard HIV test, while the word "reactive" was actually given.

    SFGate: Top News Stories By ANNIE HUANG 2011

  • In a posting on its website over the weekend, the hospital said the mistake occurred because a transplant staffer believed that the English word "reactive" on the donor's standard HIV test meant negative instead of positive.

    SFGate: Top News Stories 2011

  • NTUH, one of Taiwan's best medical institutions, said a staffer misheard the donor's test results as "non-reactive" when the English word "reactive" was actually given, meaning the donor had HIV.

    CBC | Top Stories News 2011

  • In a posting on its website over the weekend, the hospital said the mistake occurred because a transplant staffer believed that the English word "reactive" on the donor's standard HIV test meant negative instead of positive.

    The Seattle Times 2011

  • The hospital, one of Taiwan's best, said a staffer misheard the donor's test results as "non-reactive" when the English word "reactive" was actually given, indicating that the donor had HIV.

    The Seattle Times 2011

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