Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Creative |
CreativeAdjective1. Having the ability or power to create; "a creative imagination". 2. Promoting construction or creation; "creative work". 3. Having the power to bring into being. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "creative" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
We can define creativity as innovation, particularly in artistic endeavours and writing. Much praised in principle, much derided in fact, creativity serves as a refuge for the outsider with imagination. Some of the ambivalent attitude to creativity may stem from seeing the creative process as parallelling or suggesting the ingesting of drugs, or simply viewing it as eccentric behavior that is outside of the mainstream.The word "creativity" bears an implication of constructing a novelty without constituent components ex nihilo, as opposed to (say) alternative theories of artistic inspiration which posit the generation of visions from divine sources such as the Muses.
Compare invention.
Creativity is not limited to the art and design realm, however. Problem solving in general may require a creative mind. Lawyers, accountants, people in sales, and others are often more highly valued if they are able to use a creative approach to their work.
See also: Design, Visual arts and design, Fine art
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Creativity."
Synonym: CreativeSynonym: originative (adj). (additional references) |
| Antonym: uncreative (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Imagination | Imagining;Verb: v, imaginative; original, inventive, creative, fertile. |
Nonimitation | Adjective: unimitated, uncopied; unmatched, unparalleled; inimitable; unique, original; creative, inventive, untranslated; exceptional, rare, sui generis uncommon, unexampled. |
Production | Adjective: produced, producing; Verb: productive of; prolific; creative; formative, genetic, genial, genital; pregnant; enceinte, big with, fraught with; in the family way, teeming, parturient, in the straw, brought to bed of; puerperal, puerperous. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Movies just make psychos more creative. (Scream; writing credit: Kevin Williamson) Me mind is a raging torrent flooded with rivulets of thought cascading in a waterfall of creative alternatives (Blazing Saddles ; writing credit: Andrew Bergman, Mel Brooks, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg, Alan Uger) Actually, thanks to our creative bookkeeping and corporate loopholes, we only pay about $3 in taxes a year (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) We don't associate with the creative types (Waiting for Guffman; writing credit: Christopher Guest; Eugene Levy) Mickey, that's what my father used to call me! I thought you'd be a little more creative than that (Natural Born Killers; writing credit: David Veloz) | |
Lyrics | Never afraid to be creative on your radio (Request Line; performing artist: Black Eyed Peas) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Creative Impulse (1969) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References |
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Books |
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Periodicals | |||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | If you love them, protect them creative & design J. Bagley. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Painting by Creative Arts Studio, prepared for use in an official film on Naval history, circa the early 1960s. It depicts an imaginary meeting of some of the Confederacy's naval leaders, including (seated, left to right): Captain Franklin Buchanan, Captain Josiah Tattnall, and Commander Matthew F. Maury. Shown standing (from left to right) are Captain George N. Hollins, Rear Admiral Raphael Semmes, and Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory. Credit: NAVY. |
 | This abstract wood carving near the beach at St. Ives, Cornwall, England, is a creation of famous British sculptress Barbara Hepworth (...) transported (...) for the filming of National Educational Television's "The Creative Person". Credit: Library of Congress. |  | We stand for self-reliance. We hope for foreign aid but cannot be dependent on it; we depend on our own efforts, on the creative power of the whole army and the entire people. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Prisoners Accelerated Creative Exposure presents imprisoned art exhibition and sale, November 17-29. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Creative Rocks" by Xavier Ruiz Commentary: "To big rocks, make with the light a nice photo. Natural Park of Cavarceno, North of Spain." | "Creative shoot 1" by Maita Ponce Commentary: "Creative shoot." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Barry Humphries | There is perhaps, no more dangerous man in the world than the man with the sensibilities of an artist but without creative talent. With luck such men make wonderful theatrical impresarios and interior decorators, or else they become mass murderers or critics. |
Friedrich Schiller | It hinders the creative work of the mind if the intellect examines too closely the ideas as they pour in. |
Germaine De Stael | Genius is essentially creative; it bears the stamp of the individual who possesses it. |
John Stuart Mill | The great creative individual . . . is capable of more wisdom and virtue than collective man ever can be. |
Mikhail A. Bakunin | The passion for destruction (is) a creative passion. |
Norman Mailer | I think it's bad to talk about one's present work, for it spoils something at the root of the creative act. It discharges the tension. |
Ralph Waldo Emerson | There is creative reading as well as creative writing. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. | 1963 | You have been the veterans of creative suffering. (Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | If your intimacies have become routine, try new ways or places— be creative. (references) | |
Creative use of community and regional-based support mechanisms hold promise for improving adherence to the comprehensive PKU treatment regimen. (references) | ||
Business | Forms of creative advertisement have appeared all over public transportation throughout Belgium. (references) | |
They are exposed to some of the most creative advertising in the world and have access to the products offered by all of Europe. (references) | ||
To offset costs, foreign firms may want to encourage their Korean distributors to be equally creative in reducing their distribution costs. (references) | ||
Economic History | Taiwan | Unique flavors and creative packaging are the key to success in the Taiwan market. (references) |
Colombia | In addition, companies could place creative ads in publications with broad distribution. (references) | |
Chile | There is room for effective language courses with creative, attractive techniques and adequate fees. (references) | |
Human Rights | Korea | The regime justifies its dictatorship with arguments derived from concepts of collective consciousness and the superiority of the collective over the individual, appeals to nationalism, and citations of "the juche idea." The authorities emphasize that the core concept of juche is "the ability to act independently without regard to outside interference." Originally described as "a creative application of Marxism-Leninism" in the national context, juche is a malleable philosophy reinterpreted from time to time by the regime as its ideological needs change and is used by the regime as a "spiritual" underpinning for its rule. (references) |
Minorities | Azerbaijan | The Constitution provides for the right to maintain one's nationality and to speak, be educated, and carry out creative activity in one's mother tongue or any language as desired. (references) |
Political Economy | VENEZUELA | The 1993 Copyright Law is modern and comprehensive and extends copyright protection to all creative works, including computer software. (references) |
Trade | Chad | There are other creative financing techniques available. (references) |
Bulgaria | Some companies use Letters of Credit (LCs). In trying to make sales in Bulgaria, U.S. companies may have to develop creative payment schemes, which may increase the risk of the transactions. (references) | |
Russia | With Russia's budget constraints undermining the Russian government's willingness and ability to offer sovereign guarantees, Exim has sought creative ways to finance transactions, including project finance. (references) | |
Travel | Philippines | Filipinos are among the most productive, creative, and easily trainable people in Asia. (references) |
Philippines | The Philippine Government promotes Filipinos as among the most productive, creative, and easily trainable people in Asia. (references) | |
New Zealand | Wide choices of restaurants from fast food to upscale gourmet styles, and from American to Asian, European and other International cuisine are readily available in the urban centers, with many restaurants also offering highly creative presentations. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | FOLLY, n. That "gift and faculty divine" whose creative and controlling energy inspires Man's mind, guides his actions and adorns his life. Folly! although Erasmus praised thee once In a thick volume, and all authors known, If not thy glory yet thy power have shown, Deign to take homage from thy son who hunts Through all thy maze his brothers, fool and dunce, To mend their lives and to sustain his own, However feebly be his arrows thrown, Howe'er each hide the flying weapons blunts. All-Father Folly! be it mine to raise, With lusty lung, here on his western strand With all thine offspring thronged from every land, Thyself inspiring me, the song of praise. And if too weak, I'll hire, to help me bawl, Dick Watson Gilder, gravest of us all. Aramis Loto Frope |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Carol Channing | Well, she was probably the great creative force of our whole century. She's a terrific thing and she's unique and she's Barbra. But a barrel of laughs she ain't. |
Rush Limbaugh | Soft money was invented by creative souls as a way around the current campaign finance structure. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
William H. Taft | 1909-1913 | The work of formulating into practical shape such changes is creative word of the highest order, and requires all the deliberation possible in the interval. |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | To help promote and honor creative achievements, I will propose a National Foundation on the Arts. |
Gerald Ford | 1974-1977 | Let us mobilize the most powerful and most creative industrial nation that ever existed on this Earth to put all our people to work. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal. |
George W. Bush | 2001-2005 | We have the most productive, creative, and promising economic system the world has ever seen. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Creative" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 98.03% of the time. "Creative" is used about 2,490 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 98.03% | 2,441 | 3,678 |
| Noun (proper) | 1.72% | 43 | 52,181 |
| Noun (common) | 0.2% | 5 | 157,705 |
| Noun (singular) | 0.04% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 2,490 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name | Country | Name |
| Japan | Creative Inc. | Singapore | Creative Technology Ltd. |
| USA | Creative Bakeries, Inc. | ||
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "creative": creative activity ♦ creative arts ♦ Creative Concentration ♦ Creative Dance Therapy ♦ creative expression ♦ creative fare ♦ Creative Force Techniques ♦ Creative Kinesiology ♦ Creative meditation ♦ creative person ♦ creative power ♦ creative subjects ♦ creative thinker ♦ creative thinking ♦ creative urge ♦ creative urges ♦ creative writings. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "creative": creative-affirmative, creative-destructive, creative-writing. | |
Ending with "creative": Co-Creative, ever-creative, k-creative, non-creative, Re-creative. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
creative | 3,286 | creative lab driver | 129 |
creative lab | 2,586 | creative ct4810 | 126 |
creative memory | 2,480 | creative keepsakes | 121 |
creative writing | 654 | international creative management | 120 |
creative loafing | 549 | the creative group | 110 |
creative sound blaster | 357 | creative technology ltd | 108 |
creative driver | 225 | society for creative anachronism | 106 |
creative thinking | 207 | creative web cam driver | 100 |
creative artist agency | 204 | creative nail | 94 |
creative web cam | 199 | creative image | 93 |
creative nomad | 174 | creative sound | 92 |
creative technology | 166 | creative memories.com | 90 |
center for creative leadership | 165 | creative job | 84 |
creative web design | 164 | creative financing | 84 |
creative plaything | 156 | creative cow | 83 |
atlanta creative loafing | 150 | creative teaching press | 81 |
cifis creative | 148 | creative idea | 80 |
creative solution | 143 | creative recorder | 78 |
creative design | 143 | creative gift | 77 |
creative playcenter | 131 | creative curriculum | 75 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "creative"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | krijues (author, creator, demiurge, implementing, maker, molder, moulder, original, originative, originator). (various references) | |
Arabic | خلاق (artistic, inventor, originative), إبداعي (inventive, masterly). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | съзидателен, творчески (constructive, imaginative, inventive, original, originative, parturient, positive, productive, seminal), градивен (architectonic, constructive). (various references) | |
Chinese | 创造性 (creativity). (various references) | |
Czech | tvořivý (productive), tvùrèí. (various references) | |
Danish | skabende kraft (creative capacities), skabende kraefter (creative efforts), skabende karakter (creative character), skabende evner (creativity, performance in creative efforts), sindssyges kreative aktivitet (creative activity of mentally diseased), sindssyges billedskaben (creative activity of mentally diseased), kreative evner (creativity, performance in creative efforts), kreative aktiviteter (creative activities), kreativ tankegang (creative thinking), kreativ karakter (creative character), kreativ finansiering (creative financing), brainstorming (brainstorming, brain-storming, creative thinking). (various references) | |
Dutch | creativiteit (creativity, performance in creative efforts), creatieve vorming (creative activities), creatief werk (creative activities), scheppingsvermogen (creative capacities, creativity, performance in creative efforts), ontwerpmedewerkers (creative staff), muzische vakken (creative arts, creative expression, creative subjects, expressive arts, expressive subjects), kreatief karakter (creative character), Fonds voor de scheppende Toonkunst (Creative Music Fund), expressievakken (artistic activities, creative arts, creative expression, creative subjects, expressive arts, expressive subjects), een krachtontplooiing (creative efforts), brainstorming (brainstorming, brain-storming, creative thinking). (various references) | |
Farsi | خالق (Author, Creator, Demiurge, Maker), افریننده (Creator). (various references) | |
Finnish | luova. (various references) | |
French | créatif, inventif. (various references) | |
German | schöpferisch (fertile, imaginatively, inventive, potent, productive), kreativ. (various references) | |
Greek | δημιουργόσ (begetter, creator, generator, maker, originator), δημιουργικόσ (constructive), δημιουργικός. (various references) | |
Hebrew | יוצרני, יצירי (creational), יצירתי (generative, productive). (various references) | |
Hungarian | teremtő (builder, creator, generative, maker), kreatív, alkotó (artificer, begetter, builder, coiner, component, composer, constituent, constitutive, creator, generative, generator, generatrix, maker, originator, procreative). (various references) | |
Indonesian | cipta (creative force). (various references) | |
Italian | creativo. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 独創的 (original), 創造的 , 創作的 , クリーム色 (Christian, Christian Dior, Christian name, Christian Science Monitor, Christiania, Christmas, Christmas cake, Christmas card, Christmas carol, Christmas concert, Christmas Eve, Christmas present, Christmas tree, clean, clean energy, clean float, clean heater, clean hit, clean rice, clean room, clean up, cleanup trio, clear, clear lacquer, clearance, clearance sale, cleaver, click, clinic, clinometer, clip, clipper, clipping, clitoris, cream, create, creation, creative agency, creative group, creativity, creator, creole, cricket, crinoline, critic, critical, criticism, critique, crystal, crystal glass, EDTV, Extended Definition Television, Kripke, Kristiania, vented heater). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | そうぞうてき, そうさくてき, どくそうてき (original), クリエーティブ , クリエイティヴ . (various references) | |
Korean | 창조 (Creating, Creation). (various references) | |
Manx | gientynagh (conceptual, generative, imaginable, reproductive), crootagh (creator). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | eativecray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | criador (author, breeder, creator, fancier, former, founder, imaginative, inventive, maker, originative, originator, productive, rearer). (various references) | |
Romanian | creator (architect, author, constructive, creator, father, fitter, founder, original, originator), original (air hole, archetype, authentic, eccentric, first hand, genuine, odd, original, originally, peculiar, queer, real, true, unique). (various references) | |
Russian | творческий (constructive, original, originative). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | stvaralački (originative), kreativan. (various references) | |
Spanish | creativo. (various references) | |
Swedish | kreativ. (various references) | |
Turkish | yaratıcı (architect, author, builder, composer, creator, father, fertile, imaginative, ingenious, inspired, inventive, inventor, originative, originator, pregnant, procreative, procreator, productive, worker), oluşturan (constituent, constitutive), neden olan (causative, conducive, facient, initiative, provoking). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | творчий (constructive, formative, omnific, original, originative). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | sáng tạo (unmechanical). (various references) | |
Welsh | creadigol. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | artifex, artificem, artifices, artificesque, artificibus, artificis, artificum. (various references) |
| Avestan | 200-600 | dâmi, dãmi. (various references) |
| Late Latin | 300-700 | operativus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "creative": creatively, creativeness, creativenesses. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "creative": anticreative, noncreative, procreative, recreative, uncreative. (additional references) | |
| |
"Creative" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: accretative, ceratite, cercariae, creaive, Crearie, Creatifs, creatine, Karaitivu, Mcreadie. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "creative" (pronounced krēā"tiv) |
| 4 | -ā" t i v | native, nonnative, probative, vegetative. |
| 3 | -t i v | accommodative, abortive, accumulative, accusative, acquisitive, active, adaptive, addictive, additive, adjective, administrative, adoptive, affective, affirmative, alliterative, alternative, anticompetitive, appointive, appreciative, argumentative, assaultive, assertive, attentive, attractive, authoritative, automotive, captive, causative, cognitive, collaborative, collective, combative, commemorative, communicative, comparative, competitive, conductive, congestive, connective, consecutive, conservative, constructive, consultative, contemplative, contraceptive, cooperative, corrective, corruptive, counterproductive, cumulative, curative, deceptive, decorative, defective, definitive, degenerative, deliberative, demonstrative, derivative, descriptive, destructive, detective, digestive, dilutive, diminutive, directive, disincentive, disparages, dispositive, disruptive, dissipative, distinctive, distributive, duplicative, effective, elective, elucidative, eruptive, evocative, executive, exhaustive, expletive, exploitative, exploitive, facultative, Federative, festive, figurative, fixative, formative, fugitive, furtive, generative, hyperactive, hypersensitive, illustrative, imaginative, imitative, imperative, inactive, inattentive, incentive, indicative, ineffective, infective, infinitive, informative, initiative, injunctive, innovative, inoperative, inquisitive, insensitive, instinctive, instructive, interactive, interpretive, introspective, intuitive, invective, inventive, investigative, irrespective, iterative, laxative, legislative, locomotive, lucrative, manipulative, meditative, motive, narrative, negative, neoconservative, nonautomotive, noncompetitive, noncumulative, nonexecutive, nonproductive, normative, nutritive, objective, obstructive, octave, operative, overactive, palliative, participative, pejorative, perceptive, perspective, photoconductive, plaintive, positive, predictive, preemptive, prerogative, preservative, presumptive, preventative, preventive, primitive, proactive, productive, prognosticative, prohibitive, projective, prospective, protective, provocative, punitive, putative, qualitative, quantitative, radioactive, reactive, receptive, reconstructive, recuperative, redemptive, redistributive, reflective, refractive, regulative, rehabilitative, relative, remunerative, rep, repetitive, representative, reproductive, respective, restive, restorative, restrictive, retroactive, retrospective, secretive, sedative, seductive, selective, sensitive, speculative, stimulative, subjective, substantive, suggestive, superconductive, superlative, supportive, talkative, tentative, ultraconservative, unattractive, uncompetitive, uncooperative, unimaginative, uninformative, unproductive, unreceptive, unrepresentative, vindictive, vituperative. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: reactive. | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-e-e-i-r-t-v" | |
-2 letters: active, cerate, cerite, create, ecarte, recite, tierce, verite. | |
-3 letters: aerie, aiver, areic, arete, avert, caret, carte, carve, cater, caver, cavie, ceria, citer, civet, crate, crave, eater, erect, erica, evert, evict, evite, irate, react, reave, recta, recti, reive, retia, retie, revet, rivet, terai, terce, trace, trave, triac, trice, vatic, vicar, vitae. | |
-4 letters: acre, airt. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-e-e-i-r-t-v" | |
+1 letter: accretive. | |
+2 letters: cantilever, creatively, decorative, detractive, eviscerate, execrative, extractive, inveteracy, lacerative, overactive, reactivate, reactively, recitative, recreative, refractive, ulcerative, uncreative, veracities, vociferate. | |
+3 letters: cantilevers, cooperative, correlative, decemvirate, declarative, eviscerated, eviscerates, extractives, hyperactive, interactive, neuroactive, noncreative, nonreactive, predicative, prevaricate, procreative, reactivated, reactivates, recitatives, recultivate, reeducative, replicative, retroactive, revaccinate, revictualed, transceiver, underactive, vermiculate, vociferated, vociferates, vorticellae. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Historic 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Quotations: Spoken | 13. Quotations: Speeches 14. Usage Frequency 15. Names: Company Usage 16. Expressions | 17. Expressions: Internet 18. Translations: Modern 19. Translations: Ancient 20. Derivations | 21. Rhymes 22. Anagrams 23. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
