collaborative

collaborative — adjective

1. done by a group of people who share the work and ideas equally, rather than by o

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

done by a group of people who share the work and ideas equally, rather than by one person working alone

Example

The research team took a collaborative approach to studying the local river ecosystem.

collaborative + noun (approach)

Aiko and Diego wrote a collaborative report on water pollution for their science class.

collaborative + noun (report)

Common collocations
  • collaborative effort
  • collaborative project
  • collaborative work
  • collaborative approach
  • collaborative team
  • collaborative environment
  • collaborative spirit
Synonyms
  • cooperative

    more about willingness to help; less emphasis on equal input

  • joint

    implies shared ownership or responsibility, often formal or legal

  • collective

    stresses the group acting as one unified body

  • team-based

    emphasises organised group structure rather than shared creative input

Antonyms
  • individual

    done by one person rather than a group

  • solo

    done alone, without partners or team members

Grammar Patterns

collaborative + noun

be + collaborative

Usage Note

Commonly used before a noun (a collaborative project, collaborative work). Can also follow a linking verb (The process was highly collaborative), but this is less frequent.

Common Mistakes

We need more collaborate effort on this team.
We need more collaborative effort on this team.
'Collaborate' is a verb; the adjective form ends in -ive.
They did a collaborative work.
They did collaborative work.
No indefinite article before uncountable nouns like 'work'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Collaborative, cooperative, joint, collective, and coordinated all describe actions involving multiple people. Collaborative emphasises active, equal participation and shared contribution toward a common goal (a collaborative research project). Cooperative focuses more on willingness to help without necessarily implying equal creative input (a cooperative witness). Joint describes formal or legal shared ownership or responsibility (a joint bank account). Collective stresses the entire group acting as a unified whole (a collective decision). Coordinated highlights the smooth timing and organisation of separate efforts (a coordinated relief effort). Use collaborative when the emphasis is on shared authorship or intellectual work; use joint for formal arrangements, and collective for group-wide decisions.

cooperative ↗joint ↗collective ↗coordinated

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • collaborative decision-making
  • collaborative learning environment

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinLate LatinEnglish

From Late Latin collaborativus, formed from Latin com- ('together') + laborare ('to work'). The English word emerged in the mid-19th century and became common in business and academic contexts in the 20th century.