Meaning 1
Skilled at producing original and workable ideas.
Reach for it when praising a person's recurring capacity for practical creativity
The inventive mechanic rebuilt the missing handle from a bicycle brake.
Meaning 2
Showing fresh, resourceful design or thought.
Reach for it when praising the originality present in a particular solution or work
An inventive sequence of mirrors carries daylight into the lower corridor.
| Meaning 1 | Meaning 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| playful | ||
| everyday | ||
| warm |
| |
| professional |
| |
| formal |
everyday
Fits when original expression or production is meant broadly
Careful Creative need not solve a practical problem or produce an invention.
warm
Fits when vivid or original conception is the strength
Careful Imaginative can remain fanciful and need not be workable.
warm
Fits when limited means are handled with practical skill
Careful Resourceful may use familiar methods rather than inventive ones.
playful
Fits when a neat idea deserves light, immediate praise
Careful Clever can sound faint or sly when the work is substantial.
professional
Fits when a clever solution is surprisingly effective
Careful Ingenious praises the idea's cleverness, not a person's continuing creative capacity.
professional
Fits when the approach introduces useful new practice
Careful Innovative emphasizes novelty and adoption more than imaginative construction.
formal
Fits when the result differs genuinely from prior examples
Careful Original says nothing about usefulness or skill.
inventive mind
Her inventive mind found three uses for every leftover material.
inventive solution
An inventive solution moved warm air through the old chimney.
highly inventive
The staging was highly inventive without distracting from the dialogue.
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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