'operative' definitions:
Definition of 'operative'
(from WordNet)
adjective
Being in force or having or exerting force; "operative regulations"; "the major tendencies operative in the American political system" [ant: inoperative]
adjective
Relating to or requiring or amenable to treatment by surgery especially as opposed to medicine; "a surgical appendix"; "a surgical procedure"; "operative dentistry" [syn: surgical, operative] [ant: medical]
adjective
Effective; producing a desired effect; "the operative word"
adjective
(of e.g. a machine) performing or capable of performing; "in running (or working) order"; "a functional set of brakes" [syn: running(a), operative, functional, working(a)]
noun
A person secretly employed in espionage for a government [syn: secret agent, intelligence officer, intelligence agent, operative]
noun
Someone who can be employed as a detective to collect information [syn: private detective, PI, private eye, private investigator, operative, shamus, sherlock]
Synonyms of 'operative'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- accessible,
- active,
- actor,
- agent,
- alive,
- architect,
- armipotent,
- artisan,
- author,
- authoritative,
- Bow Street runner,
- CIA man,
- cloak-and-dagger operative,
- cogent,
- conductor,
- counterintelligence agent,
- counterspy,
- craftsman,
- craftswoman,
- creator,
- detective,
- doer,
- double agent,
- driver,
- dynamic,
- effective,
- effectual,
- efficacious,
- efficient,
- employable,
- employee,
- energetic,
- engineer,
- espionage agent,
- executant,
- executor,
- executrix,
- eye,
- fabricator,
- FBI,
- FBI agent,
- fed,
- Federal,
- forceful,
- forcible,
- functional,
- functionary,
- functioning,
- G-man,
- go,
- gumshoe,
- hand,
- handler,
- high-potency,
- high-powered,
- high-pressure,
- high-tension,
- hotel detective,
- house detective,
- house dick,
- in force,
- in power,
- inquiry agent,
- inside man,
- intelligence agent,
- investigator,
- irresistible,
- laborer,
- live,
- machinist,
- maker,
- manipulator,
- mechanic,
- medium,
- mighty,
- mighty in battle,
- military-intelligence man,
- mover,
- narc,
- naval-intelligence man,
- operant,
- operation,
- operational,
- operator,
- performer,
- perpetrator,
- pilot,
- plainclothesman,
- police detective,
- potent,
- powerful,
- practicable,
- practical,
- practitioner,
- prepotent,
- prime mover,
- private detective,
- private eye,
- private investigator,
- producer,
- puissant,
- reconnoiterer,
- revenuer,
- roustabout,
- ruling,
- runner,
- running,
- scout,
- secret agent,
- Secret Service,
- shamus,
- Sherlock Holmes,
- sleuth,
- spotter,
- spy,
- spy-catcher,
- steersman,
- store detective,
- striking,
- strong,
- subject,
- T-man,
- telling,
- treasury agent,
- undercover man,
- usable,
- valid,
- vigorous,
- vital,
- worker,
- workhand,
- working,
- workingman,
- workman
Words containing 'operative'
- in operation,
- operable,
- operant,
- operate,
- operate on,
- operating,
- operation,
- operational,
- operationalism,
- operationally,
- operations,
- operatively,
- operator,
- Calculus of operations,
- Distributive operation,
- Front of operations,
- Line of operations,
- Plastic operation,
- Reverse operation,
- Subcutaneous operation,
- Subperiosteal operation,
- amphibious operation,
- arithmetic operation,
- asynchronous operation,
- auxiliary operation,
- base of operations,
- binary operation,
- black operation,
- boolean operation,
- camera operator,
- chemical operations,
- clandestine operation,
- cognitive operation,
- combined operation,
- company operator,
- computer operation,
- concurrent operation,
- consecutive operation,
- control operation,
- covert operation,
- dyadic operation,
- elevator operator,
- exfiltration operation,
- existential operator,
- eye operation,
- field of operation,
- field of operations,
- identity operator,
- intelligence operation,
- joint operation,
- linear operator,
- logic operation,
- logical operation,
- machine operation,
- majority operation,
- martyr operation,
- mathematical operation,
- matrix operation,
- military operation,
- military operations,
- monadic operation,
- multiplex operation,
- newsstand operator,
- operant conditioning,
- operating budget,
- operating capability,
- operating capital,
- operating cost,
- operating expense,
- operating instructions,
- operating microscope,
- operating procedure,
- operating room,
- operating statement,
- operating surgeon,
- operating system,
- operating table,
- operating theater,
- operating theatre,
- operation code,
- operational casualty,
- operational cell,
- operational damage,
- operations research,
- operative field,
- operator gene,
- overt operation,
- parallel operation,
- peacekeeping operation,
- printing operation,
- psychological operation,
- pyramid operation,
- radio operator,
- rescue operation,
- sacrifice operation,
- sequential operation,
- serial operation,
- shirodkar's operation,
- simultaneous operation,
- sting operation,
- surgical operation,
- switchboard operator,
- synchronous operation,
- telegraph operator,
- telephone operator,
- theater of operations,
- theatre of operations,
- threshold operation,
- trading operations,
- unary operation,
- undercover operation,
- A deep line of operations,
- big time operator,
- binary arithmetic operation,
- chief operating officer,
- coin-operated,
- disk operating system,
- hand-operated,
- off-line operation,
- operation desert storm,
- riot control operation,
- simulated military operation,
- standard operating procedure,
- standing operating procedure,
- unix operating system,
- buy-and-bust operation,
- fixed-cycle operation,
- floating-point operation,
- meuse-argonne operation,
- microsoft disk operating system,
- purse-string operation,
- real-time operation,
- sewing-machine operator,
- sex-change operation,
- co-operative republic of guyana,
- million floating point operations per second,
- trillion floating point operations per second