Providing a useful lesson about how something works or what should happen next.
Reach for it when praising the learning value of an example, including an unsuccessful one
The failed trial was instructive because it exposed a weak assumption in the schedule.
| everyday | |
|---|---|
| warm | |
| professional |
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| formal | |
| literary |
everyday
Fits when useful facts are what the reader gains
Careful Informative material can lack the guidance or lesson of instructive.
everyday
Fits when practical value matters more than how it is delivered
Careful Useful is too broad to specify learning.
warm
Fits when understanding changes in a welcome, clarifying way
Careful Enlightening can sound too transformative for a modest example.
professional
Fits when planned learning is the primary purpose
Careful Educational can label planned learning without yielding one practical lesson.
formal
didactic
Fits when the work openly aims to teach a lesson
Careful Didactic often criticizes heavy-handed teaching and can reverse the praise.
literary
revealing
Fits when the case exposes a fact or pattern that was hidden
Careful Revealing may disclose something without teaching what to do.
instructive example
The cracked model became an instructive example of uneven cooling.
highly instructive
Comparing the two maps was highly instructive for the planning group.
instructive failure
Their instructive failure led to a simpler and safer fastening.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Vealhurl, Southern England accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Updated
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