suggestive

Etymology

It is formed from English suggest + -ive.^[2][3][4] Merriam-Webster derives it from Latin suggestus, the past participle of suggerō (“to suggest”), with the suffix -ive,^[5][6] and the OED from an unrecorded Latin *suggestīvus, comparing Italian suggestivo and Portuguese suggestivo; it notes that French suggestif was taken from English.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Fitted to suggest thoughts or ideas; conveying a hint or implying something not stated directly: 1631, in John Weever's Ancient Funerall Monuments.^[7][5] Etymonline also dates the word to the 1630s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The early sense of hinting at something unexpressed widened in the 19th century: from 1846 the word was used of a thinker or writer who stimulates thought, and the phrase suggestive of something appears in 1850.^[7] A euphemistic sense, apt to suggest something indecent, is recorded from 1888,^[7][3] and is now the common meaning of the word on its own.^[8][9] At the end of the 19th century it was also used of hypnotic suggestion.^[7][2] A legal sense, resting on a "suggestion" or information laid before a court, is recorded only before 1700.^[7]

Timeline

• 1631 – conveying a suggestion or hint; implying something unexpressed.^[7][5]
• 1806 – of a plan or method, that suggests itself.^[7]
• 1846 – of a thinker or writer, stimulating thought.^[7]
• 1850 – suggestive of, evoking something.^[7]
• 1888 – apt to suggest something indecent.^[7][3]
• before 1901 – of or relating to hypnotic suggestion.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Tending to bring something to mind; giving a hint of it, often in suggestive of: The sound of the waves was suggestive of a summer holiday.^[8][5][9]
2. Hinting at sexual matters; mildly indecent or risqué.^[8][9][5]
3. Full of ideas; stimulating thought or reflection.^[5][7]
4. Of or relating to hypnotic suggestion.^[7][2]

Word family

• suggestively
• suggestiveness
• nonsuggestive
• unsuggestive

Related words

• suggestible
• suggest
• suggestion

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b c Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press