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reductive Definition

re·duc·tive (ri duktiv)

adjective

  1. of or characterized by reduction or reductionism
  2. reducing or tending to reduce

Etymology: ML reductivus

reductive Related Forms
re·duc·tively adverb
reductive Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • dechlorination: Chlorinated solvents may be amenable to biodegradation through the process of reductive dechlorination in natural aquifer systems.
  • realist: In fact, it is this last sort of view that most reductive realists during the medieval period actually hold.
  • modernism: Return to text We will be discussing Jones's notion of " reductive modernism " below.
  • materialism: His hylomorphism, then, embraces neither reductive materialism nor Platonic dualism.
  • account: That is, he will resist any reductive account of life.
  • approach: I found this a somewhat mechanical and reductive approach, which was too confident in finding singular interpretations for each phase of Titanic remembrance.

Modifying Another Word

  • highly: What Henryson is concerned with is a highly reductive reading of Chaucer's text.
  • somewhat: The answer is a somewhat reductive, very uncomplicated ' not a lot ' .
  • rather: Back-row blogger on... comparing artists Isn't a ' compare and contrast ' approach to art rather reductive, asks Charlotte Higgins.
  • extremely: This extremely reductive idea of painting is one reason why Greenberg's concept of modernist fell out of favor in the 1960s.

Used with adjective complement

  • seem: To call this situation " farcical " seems reductive.