responsive

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /rɪˈspɑnsɪv/ UK /rɪˈspɒnsɪv/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
reacting quickly and positively to something or someone

The new staff were warm and responsive to every customer query.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · reacting quickly and... receptivereactivesympathetic sensitive amenable alert quick

Opposites

unresponsive indifferentunreceptiveapathetic

Word family

Derived forms responsively responsiveness

Related forms respond response responsiblespondee

Etymology

From respond + -ive, from Latin responsus, past participle of respondere ('to answer'), from re- ('back') + spondere ('to promise, pledge').

respondere Latin spondere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# responsive

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

## Meanings
1. reacting quickly and positively to something or someone

## Examples
- The new staff were warm and responsive to every customer query.

## Synonyms
- receptive
- reactive
- sympathetic
- sensitive
- amenable
- alert
- quick

## Antonyms
- unresponsive
- indifferent
- unreceptive
- apathetic

## Derived Forms
- responsively
- responsiveness

## Related Forms
- respond
- response
- responsible
- spondee

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: respondere
- Root: spondere

## Etymology
From respond + -ive, from Latin responsus, past participle of respondere ('to answer'), from re- ('back') + spondere ('to promise, pledge').

## AI Etymology
Responsive comes from respond + -ive, from Latin responsus, past participle of respondere ('to answer'), from re- ('back') + spondere ('to promise, pledge'). The historical chain includes Latin respondere and Latin spondere. The quoted older senses, "to answer", "back", and "to promise, pledge", supply the semantic anchors for responsive. The formation is best read as suffixal, compound, participial, and borrowed: the word responsive carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "reacting quickly and positively to something or someone". English derivatives include responsively and responsiveness; related English forms include respond, response, responsible, and spondee. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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