divisive

C2+ Topic:Space, Position & Direction

US /dɪˈvaɪsɪv/ UK /dɪˈvaɪsɪv/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
tending to cause disagreement or hostility between people

The proposal proved deeply divisive among the town's residents.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · tending to cause... discordant disruptive contentious factional alienatingschismatic

Opposites

unifying uniting conciliatory harmonious cohesive

Word family

Derived forms divisivelydivisiveness

Related forms divide division divisible divisor

Etymology

From Latin divisus, past participle of dividere ('to divide'), plus the suffix -ive; the sense 'causing division' arose from the notion of splitting apart.

divisus Latin dividere Latin *weidh- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Space, Position & Direction Word Formation & Derivatives

# divisive

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** dɪˈvaɪsɪv
**IPA (UK):** dɪˈvaɪsɪv

## Meanings
1. tending to cause disagreement or hostility between people

## Examples
- The proposal proved deeply divisive among the town's residents.

## Synonyms
- discordant
- disruptive
- contentious
- factional
- alienating
- schismatic

## Antonyms
- unifying
- uniting
- conciliatory
- harmonious
- cohesive

## Derived Forms
- divisively
- divisiveness

## Related Forms
- divide
- division
- divisible
- divisor

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: divisus
- Root: dividere
- Root: *weidh-

## Etymology
From Latin divisus, past participle of dividere ('to divide'), plus the suffix -ive; the sense 'causing division' arose from the notion of splitting apart.

## AI Etymology
Divisive comes from Latin divisus, past participle of dividere ('to divide'), plus the suffix -ive; the sense 'causing division' arose from the notion of splitting apart. The etymological trail includes Latin divisus, Latin dividere, and Proto-Indo-European *weidh-. As an adjective, divisive describes what is tending to cause disagreement or hostility between people. The same family is visible in derived forms such as divisively and divisiveness and related forms such as divide, division, divisible, and divisor. The analysis is partly morphological, with the modern form built from the elements named in the history.

## Topics
- Space, Position & Direction
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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