responsive

responsive — adjective

1. giving a fast, constructive reaction when someone speaks, acts, or makes a reque

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

giving a fast, constructive reaction when someone speaks, acts, or makes a request, or when circumstances shift

Example

Jin was very responsive to customer feedback and quickly changed the menu.

responsive to + feedback

The school's staff are responsive to the needs of children with disabilities.

responsive to + needs of [group]

Common collocations
  • responsive to feedback
  • responsive to needs
  • responsive to change
  • responsive to demand
  • highly responsive
  • quickly responsive
Synonyms
  • receptive

    focuses on willingness to accept new ideas or suggestions, not necessarily acting on them

  • reactive

    simply implies acting in response, but can carry a negative sense of only acting after a problem arises

  • attentive

    emphasises careful listening or watching, not necessarily the speed of reaction

Antonyms
  • unresponsive

    the direct opposite; failing to react or showing no interest

Grammar Patterns

responsive + to + noun phrase

responsive + noun

Usage Note

Commonly paired with 'to' + noun phrase naming the stimulus (feedback, needs, demand, change). When used attributively before a noun (e.g., 'responsive reply', 'responsive approach'), the meaning focuses on the quality of the reaction rather than the actor.

Common Mistakes

The manager was responsible to customer complaints.
The manager was responsive to customer complaints.
'responsible to' means having a duty toward; 'responsive to' means reacting quickly and helpfully.
She gave a response reply.
She gave a responsive reply.
'response' is a noun; 'responsive' is the adjective form.

2. (of a disease, symptom, or affected body part) showing improvement or healing in

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

(of a disease, symptom, or affected body part) showing improvement or healing in reaction to a particular drug or medical procedure

Example

The patient's tumour was responsive to the new chemotherapy drug.

responsive to treatment (medical context)

Dr. Hamza noted that the infection was responsive to antibiotics within two days.

Common collocations
  • responsive to treatment
  • responsive to therapy
  • responsive to medication
  • poorly responsive
  • fully responsive
  • highly responsive
Synonyms
  • treatable

    broader in scope — treatable means a cure or improvement is possible, without specifying whether the condition actually reacts to a particular drug

  • curable

    stronger than responsive — implies complete elimination of the disease, not just improvement

Antonyms
  • resistant

    the standard antonym in medical contexts, e.g., drug-resistant infection; implies the treatment has no effect

Grammar Patterns

be responsive to + treatment/drug/therapy

Usage Note

Used predicatively — the adjective follows the verb 'be', 'become', or 'remain' and is almost never placed before a noun in this sense. The subject is typically a medical condition (tumour, infection, rash) rather than a person, though 'patient' may appear as a metonym.

Common Mistakes

The patient is responsive to the new drug.' (meaning the patient's condition improves)
The patient's condition / tumour is responsive to the new drug.
'responsive' in this medical sense describes the disease or symptom, not the person in everyday contexts.

Word family

  • responsiveness
    nounB2
  • responsively
    adverbC1
  • respond
    verbB1
  • response
    nounB1
  • unresponsive
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe a way of engaging with input from outside, but they differ in timing and attitude. Responsive emphasises acting quickly and helpfully after receiving feedback or a request — it is the most action-oriented of the group. Receptive is about willingness to listen or consider new ideas, but does not guarantee a follow-up action; you can be receptive to advice but never act on it. Reactive often describes behaviour triggered by events, but it can carry a negative tone of merely responding to problems rather than preventing them (e.g., 'a reactive management style'). Attentive focuses on careful and thoughtful observation (e.g., 'an attentive waiter'), but may not include speed of response. Choose responsive when both awareness and prompt action are key.

responsive ↗receptivereactive ↗attentive ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • responsive to the needs of
  • responsive to feedback from
  • responsive to changes in

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

From Latin 'responsivus', built on 'responsus' (the past participle of 'respondere' — to answer, to reply), combined with the adjective-forming suffix '-ivus' (English '-ive', meaning 'having the nature of'). The word entered English in the early 1600s, first used in legal and theological writing to describe an answer or reply. The medical sense — describing a condition that reacts to treatment — developed in the 1800s as clinical terminology expanded.