WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
pro•duc•tive /prəˈdʌktɪv/USA pronunciation
adj. producing a useful result:a very productive meeting.
pro•duc•tive•ly, adv.
pro•duc•tive•ness, n. [uncountable]See -duc-.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- that produces a large amount:a very productive writer.
pro•duc•tive•ness, n. [uncountable]See -duc-.
pro•duc•tive
(prə duk′tiv),USA pronunciation adj.
pro•duc′tive•ly, adv.
pro•duc′tive•ness, n.
pro•duc•tiv•i•ty
(prō′duk tiv′i tē),USA pronunciation n.
- having the power of producing; generative;
creative:a productive effort. - producing readily or abundantly;
fertile:a productive vineyard. - causing;
bringing about (usually fol. by of ):conditions productive of crime and sin. - Business[Econ.]producing or tending to produce goods and services having exchange value.
- Grammar(of derivational affixes or patterns) readily used in forming new words, as the suffix -ness.
- Linguistics, Education(in language learning) of or pertaining to the language skills of speaking and writing (opposed to receptive).
- Medieval Latin productīvus. See product, -ive
- 1605–15
pro•duc′tive•ness, n.
- 2. fecund. Productive, fertile, fruitful, prolific apply to the generative aspect of something. Productive refers to a generative source of continuing activity:productive soil; a productive influence.Fertile applies to that in which seeds, literal or figurative, take root:fertile soil; a fertile imagination.Fruitful refers to that which has already produced and is capable of further production:fruitful soil, discovery, theory.Prolific means highly productive:a prolific farm, writer.
- 2. sterile.
'productively' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):