WordGarden.ionutritive
C2Pronunciation
UK
- /njˈuːtrɪtˌɪv/
US
- /ˈnutrətɪv/
Meanings
Adjective
relating to nourishment or providing it
Beyond the definition
Something nutritive gives the body nourishment and helps support growth and health. An apple, oats, or milk can be called nutritive because they provide useful nutrients, while candy or soda usually would not. The word is mostly used for food, drinks, and substances that truly help feed the body, not just fill the stomach. You might talk about a nutritive meal, a nutritive food for children, or the nutritive value of a grain or vegetable.
The word "nutritive" describes something that provides nourishment, especially by supplying nutrients that help the body grow, stay healthy, and recover strength. It is most often used for food, drink, or another substance that has real feeding value. A nutritive soup, a nutritive breakfast, or a nutritive baby formula all suggest more than something edible; they suggest something that genuinely helps the body.
The word usually appears in health, food, and science contexts. People may talk about the nutritive value of vegetables, grains, milk, or animal feed. In these cases, the focus is on how much useful nourishment something gives. That is why the word is closer to "nourishing" than to simply "containing nutrients." A product might include a few nutrients on paper but still not be described as very nutritive if it does little to support good health overall.
The word can sometimes be used in a broader or more figurative way, but that is less common. In most everyday use, "nutritive" stays closely tied to physical nourishment. So if you see it describing a meal, ingredient, or diet, the idea is simple: it helps feed the body in a healthy and useful way.
Examples
- 1
Food value
The soup is plain, but it has good nutritive value.
- 2
Food processing
Processing can lower the nutritive content of some foods.
- 3
Sweeteners
The dietitian compared nutritive sweeteners like sugar with nonnutritive sweeteners used in diet drinks.
- Domainnonnutritive sweeteners
sweeteners that add little or no food energy
- 4
Infant feeding
Nurses watched for signs of nutritive sucking during the baby’s feeding.
- Domainnutritive sucking
sucking that brings in milk, not just sucking for comfort
See also
Similar
- nutritious
- nourishing
- nutrient-rich
Shades of meaning
Contrast
- nonnutritive
- empty-calorie
Used with (collocations)
- nutritive value
- nutritive properties
- nutritive sweetener
Word family
- nutrition
- nutritively
Explore
- food value
- nutrient density
Forms and spellings
2 forms open this card.
Main spelling
- nutritivenounadjective
Forms
- nutritivespluralnounadjective