comparative

comparative — noun

1. the form taken by an adjective or an adverb when you use it to show that one per

1.nounA2
Definition

the form taken by an adjective or an adverb when you use it to show that one person or thing has more of a quality than another, for example 'taller' from 'tall'

Example

Ravi learned that the comparative of 'tall' is 'taller'.

the comparative of [adjective]

In class, the teacher asked Leila to form the comparative of 'happy'.

form the comparative of [adjective]

Common collocations
  • comparative of
  • form the comparative
  • irregular comparative
  • the comparative
Synonyms
Antonyms
  • superlative

    the form that shows the highest degree, not a comparison between two

Grammar Patterns

the comparative of [noun]

form the comparative

Usage Note

Frequently preceded by 'the': 'the comparative of big'. Countable but almost always used in the singular.

Common Mistakes

The more big is the comparative of big.
The comparative of big is bigger.
For short adjectives, add '-er' instead of 'more'.
The comparative of good is gooder.
The comparative of good is better.
Some common adjectives have irregular comparative forms and must be memorised.

comparative — adjective

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Comparative (sense 1) describes a systematic side-by-side examination that looks for both similarities and differences — common in academic fields such as comparative literature or comparative anatomy. 'Relative' shares the idea of measurement against a standard but does not imply a formal method; it is broader and more common in everyday speech ('relative size', 'relative value'). 'Contrastive' narrows the focus to differences only, used mainly in linguistics (contrastive analysis). 'Analogous' points to similarity of function or structure without implying a full comparison of all features. For example, a comparative study of two novels would examine plot, style, and themes, while saying the novels are merely analogous suggests they share a structural resemblance without a detailed analysis.

relative ↗comparison-basedcontrastiveanalogous ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • comparatively

Phrases

  • in comparative terms
  • by comparative standards

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

The word 'comparative' comes from Latin 'comparativus', meaning 'related to comparison', which is built from 'comparare' (to pair together, to compare). 'Comparare' combines 'com-' (together) and 'parare' (to make ready, to make equal). It entered English through Old French 'comparatif' in the 15th century. The grammatical sense — referring to the form of an adjective or adverb used when comparing two things — developed from the same Latin root and has been used in English grammar descriptions since the 16th century.