decisive Hear it!

decisive Definition

de·ci·sive (-sīsiv, di-)

adjective

  1. that settles or can settle a dispute, question, etc.; conclusive decisive evidence
  2. determining or closely affecting what comes next; critically important; crucial a decisive moment in his career
  3. having the quality of decision; showing determination or firmness a decisive tone of voice

Etymology: ML decisivus < L decisus: see decision

decisive Related Forms

de·ci·sively adverb de·ci·sive·ness noun

decisive Synonyms

decisive

modif.

  1. Crucial

    final, definitive, determining, absolute; see certain 3, conclusive, crucial.

  2. Showing determination or firmness

    firm, forceful, unhesitating; see certain 1, emphatic 1, resolute 2.

decisive Usage Examples

Modifying Another Word

  • potentially: Sediment supply, relative to fluvial transport capacity, has therefore a potentially decisive effect on the erosive power of any bedrock river.
  • perhaps: You will recall how great, perhaps decisive, was the part played by the German Air Force against the French Army in May.
  • necessarily: Even where benefits are paid to the employer, this fact is not necessarily decisive.
  • so: The call is so decisive that they immediately left their fishing nets and followed Jesus.
  • really: The deep split over the war on Iraq shattered any illusions in a common position on really decisive foreign issues.
  • even: You will also learn how it can be very useful, even decisive, in chart rectification.

Preposition: for

development: The United Nations Development Program focuses increasingly on questions of governance, which we all now realize are decisive for development.

Adjective complement with noun phrase

do: When they did, Colonel Leavenworth was warned to do something decisive or he would lose Indian respect forever.

Modifies a noun

  • victory: In all likelihood, America will score a decisive military victory.
  • battle: During the decisive Battle of Endor, the Falcon flew point for the Alliance Fleet.
  • blow: A decisive finishing blow, act, or event.
  • moment: Today shall be a decisive moment in which time zone I've landed in.
  • action: Lenin demanded decisive action to seize the supreme power.
  • factor: The decisive factor was, first of all, to get his troops to Spain.

Used with adjective complement

  • prove: I had a new grip on me racket which proved quite decisive.
  • become: Both thinkers would spawn defenders and schools of thought that would become decisive in establishing modernism.
  • look: It looks decisive, and it is certainly administratively convenient.
  • regard: Until they are able to do so the foregoing arguments must be regarded as decisive.
  • take: I regard both of those matters taken together as decisive.
  • consider: In a situation where every race would be considered decisive by both big parties, they are not.