operative

«operative» in Mova's school dictionary: now operative.» — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adjective; noun (an operative, operatives)

meaning for a pupil

1) Working, in action: «The new system is now operative.» tree →

2) (noun) A worker, especially one who works machines in a factory. tree →

3) (noun) A secret agent or spy. tree →

4) To do with a medical operation: «post-operative care». tree →

sense in the lessons

Formal and news word. «The operative word» means the most important word in a sentence. In hospitals: pre-operative (before surgery) and post-operative (after). In spy stories, an operative is an agent on a mission.

examples

• The new lift will be operative from Monday. tree →
• The factory hired ten more operatives. tree →
• The spy film followed a secret operative in Paris. tree →
• «Free» was the operative word in the advert. tree →
• After his operation Grandad needed post-operative care. tree →
• The rules became operative at the start of term. tree →

note

Adjective and countable noun. Related: operate, operation, operator. Phrase: «the operative word» = the key word. Use «an» before it.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «operative» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.