operative
operative — noun
1. a person whose job involves practical work, often using tools, machines, or skil
a person whose job involves practical work, often using tools, machines, or skilled hand work
Two factory operatives fixed the jammed belt before lunch.
collocation: factory operative
At dawn, the road crew sent three operatives to repair signs.
A trained operative shaped the metal parts by hand.
skilled hand work
During harvest, extra operatives packed oranges into wooden boxes.
The machine line was watched by one experienced operative all night.
- factory operative
- skilled operative
- production operative
- experienced operative
- repair operatives
- worker
the broad everyday word; operative sounds more formal and job-specific
- technician
usually suggests more specialist technical training
- mechanic
is narrower and usually repairs machines or vehicles
- manager
focuses on directing work rather than doing hands-on tasks
- supervisor
usually oversees workers instead of doing the practical work personally
Grammar Patterns
factory operative
skilled operative
operatives on a production line
Usage Note
Often used in factories, repair teams, or other practical jobs. It is more specific and more formal than the general word worker.
Common Mistakes
2. someone sent to do hidden work for a government or group, often to gather inform
someone sent to do hidden work for a government or group, often to gather information or carry out a plan
Police arrested an operative carrying false papers at the border.
security context: arrest an operative
The group placed an operative inside the shipping company.
inside + organization
By spring, two operatives were sending messages from the capital.
A captured operative refused to name the people who hired him.
News reports linked the bombing to a foreign operative.
collocation: foreign operative
- foreign operative
- covert operative
- undercover operative
- intelligence operative
- capture an operative
- agent
the broadest word and can be secret or official
- spy
strongly stresses stealing or passing secret information
- undercover agent
emphasizes a hidden identity while working
- field agent
stresses work done outside an office or headquarters
- civilian
suggests an ordinary person with no secret role
- spokesperson
describes someone acting openly in public
Grammar Patterns
an operative inside + organization
foreign operative
capture an operative
Usage Note
Usually found in news, political, military, or intelligence contexts. Distinguish from noun/1, which means an ordinary worker rather than a person acting secretly.
Common Mistakes
operative — adjective
1. currently functioning, or officially active and able to be used
currently functioning, or officially active and able to be used
By Monday, the new phone line was fully operative.
be fully operative
Only one lift remained operative after the power cut.
remain operative
The school must keep an operative fire alarm in each hall.
before noun: operative fire alarm
Until the password reset, Maria's email account was not operative.
By sunset, only one ticket machine was still operative on the platform.
- fully operative
- remain operative
- become operative
- operative account
- operative fire alarm
- working
the everyday choice for machines, equipment, and systems
- functional
stresses that something can still be used
- operational
is close in meaning and is more common for large systems or organizations
- active
is broader and can describe accounts, rules, or people
- inoperative
the direct opposite in formal English
- broken
is the everyday word when a machine no longer works
- inactive
can mean not currently in use or not officially in force
Grammar Patterns
be fully operative
remain operative
an operative system
Usage Note
Common with systems, laws, accounts, alarms, or equipment. Distinguish from adjective/3, which is about having influence on a result rather than simply functioning or being in force.
Common Mistakes
2. connected with surgery or with care given before, during, or after it
connected with surgery or with care given before, during, or after it
The surgeon discussed operative risks with Ethan before the knee procedure.
collocation: operative risks
After the broken arm was set, operative treatment was no longer needed.
operative treatment
The nurse prepared the skin around the operative field.
collocation: operative field
Friday's chart includes the operative note from Mei's appendix surgery.
collocation: operative note
Clear lights helped the team see the operative area.
- operative treatment
- operative risk
- operative field
- operative note
- operative area
- surgical
the nearest everyday equivalent
- perioperative
a more technical word that covers the period around surgery
- clinical
is broader and not limited to surgery
- non-operative
used in medicine for treatment without surgery
- medical
can contrast with surgical when only drugs or non-surgical care are used
Grammar Patterns
operative treatment
operative risk
operative note
Usage Note
Mostly used in hospital and surgery writing. It often appears before nouns such as treatment, risk, field, note, and area.
Common Mistakes
3. having real power to shape what happens or to help bring about a result
having real power to shape what happens or to help bring about a result
At the bakery, fuel prices were still the operative factor in bread costs.
formal collocation: operative factor
Fear remained the operative force behind the mayor's sudden decision.
formal collocation: operative force
In court, the judge asked which cause was truly operative.
formal use in law
Poor lighting was the operative cause of the driver's mistake.
formal collocation: operative cause
- operative factor
- operative cause
- operative force
- truly operative
- remain operative in
- effective
the ordinary word for producing a result
- influential
stresses the power to affect other people or events
- causal
focuses on being part of the cause
- active
can overlap, but it is broader and less formal
- ineffective
not able to produce the result
- irrelevant
having no real bearing on the outcome
Grammar Patterns
operative factor
operative cause
operative force
Usage Note
Usually found in formal writing with nouns like factor, cause, or force. Distinguish from adjective/1, which means functioning or in force rather than helping produce an outcome.
Common Mistakes
Word family
- operateverbB2
- operationnounB1
- operatornounB2
- operationaladjectiveC1
Synonym discussion
Sense: adjective/1
For adjective/1, operative is a fairly formal word meaning that something is working or in force. Working is the everyday choice for machines, phones, or lifts. Functional also means usable, but it can suggest that something works only at a basic level. Operational is very close to operative and is more common for large systems, networks, businesses, or military units. Active is broader: an account, law, or volcano can all be active, but active does not always stress practical use. You can say Only one lift remained operative after the power cut, but in ordinary conversation many speakers would simply say only one lift was still working.
Etymology
Operative came into English from late Latin operativus, based on operari, meaning "to work". The earliest uses described something that does work or brings about an effect. From that central idea, English later developed noun uses for a worker and for a person sent to carry out secret work. The surgical sense is linked to operation in the meaning of surgery.