Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Assertive |
AssertiveAdjective1. Inclined to bold and confident assertion; aggressively self-assured; "an energetic assertive boy who was always ready to argue"; "pointing directly at a listener is an assertive act". 2. Confidently aggressive; "too assertive as a salesman"; "his self-assertive and unflagging energy". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "assertive" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1873. (references) |
Synonyms: AssertiveSynonyms: self-asserting (adj), self-assertive (adj). (additional references) |
| Antonym: unassertive (adj). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Assertive |
| English words defined with "assertive": aggressor, assert oneself, assertively ♦ self-asserting, self-assertive. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "assertive": Cattell Personality Factor Questionnaire, considered harmful. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I love a man whose mildly assertive. No, I don't (She Spies; writing credit: Ron Osborn; Josh Appelbaum) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
V. S. Pritchett | The Canadian spirit is cautious, observant and critical where the American is assertive. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Civil Liberties | Niger | The private press remained relatively assertive in criticizing government actions. (references) |
Economic History | New Zealand | In recent decades, Maori have become increasingly urbanized and have become more politically active and culturally assertive. (references) |
Vietnam | Once seen as little more than a rubber stamp, the National Assembly has become more vocal and assertive in exercising its authority over lawmaking, particularly in the recent years. (references) | |
Political Economy | Canada | The provinces can be expected to play an assertive role vis- -vis Ottawa in decision-making on health care and other social, environmental and resource-related matters. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Assertive" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 99.68% of the time. "Assertive" is used about 315 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 99.68% | 314 | 16,289 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.32% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 315 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "assertive": assertive action. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "assertive": assertive-in-spite-of-herself. | |
Ending with "assertive": non-assertive. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "assertive"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | kategorik (categorical, flat, point blank, positive, straight out), i sigurt (assured, certain, clear, confident, dead, dependable, fast, firm, foolproof, indubitable, infallible, positive, reliable, reliant, safe, secure, sound, sterling, sure, trusty, unerring). (various references) | |
Arabic | ميال إلى التوكيد, جازم (dogmatic). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | отстояващ, изтъкващ (adducent). (various references) | |
Chinese | 断言 (Allege, Alleging, ASSERT, Asserted, asserting, assertion, Assertiveness, Predicated, Predicating). (various references) | |
Czech | asertivní (self-assertive), rozhodný (categorical, conclusive, decided, decisive, definite, determined, firm, peremptory, point blank, resolute, strong, strong-minded, unhesitating, unqualified), energický (brisk, decisive, decisively, energetic, enterprising, firm, forceful, forcefully, go ahead, high-powered, perky, red blooded, strenuous, strong, vigorous, vital). (various references) | |
Danish | positive foranstaltninger (affirmative action, assertive action, positive action), positiv særbehandling (affirmative action, assertive action, positive action). (various references) | |
Dutch | positieve discriminatie (affirmative action, assertive action, positive action), positieve actie (affirmative action, assertive action, positive action). (various references) | |
Finnish | tasa-arvon edistäminen (affirmative action, assertive action, positive action), positiiviset erityistoimet (affirmative action, assertive action, positive action). (various references) | |
French | assuré (assured, assuredly), péremptoire, expressément. (various references) | |
German | ausdrücklich (absolutely, clearly, definitely, emphatic, emphatically, explicit, explicitly, express, expressly, formally, particularly, specially, specifically, without fail). (various references) | |
Greek | κατηγορηματικόσ (categorical, decisive, explicit, predicative), κατηγορηματικός (explicit), θετικόσ (positive), θετικός (positive, positive about). (various references) | |
Hebrew | תקיף (determined, emphatic, forceful, mighty, peremptory, powerful, resolute, vehement), "חלטי (absolute, decisive, forthright, peremptory, purposeful, stout, tenacious). (various references) | |
Hungarian | tolakodó (busybody, hustler, importunate, indiscreet, intruder, intrusive, jostling, meddler, meddlesome, obtrusive, self-assertive, shrill), magabiztos (cock-sure, confident, self confident, self-assertive, self-assured, self-confident), bizonygató, önző (egocentric, egotist, politics, self-centered), öntudatos (conscious, self conscious, self-conscious), állító (affirmative, assurer, positive, predicative), állítást magában foglaló. (various references) | |
Indonesian | tegas (emphatic, explicit), sombong (bigheaded, boastful, egotistic, haughty, plume, proud, uppish, vain, vainglorious), setegas (as (pronounced, explicit) as). (various references) | |
Italian | esplicito (bald, direct, emphatic, explicit, express, formally, outspoken). (various references) | |
Manx | treealagh (empiric, empirical, tentative), kioneysagh (commanding, dominating, domineer, high-handed). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | assertiveay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | assertivo, agressivo (aggressive, belligerent, ill-conditioned, offensive, pushy, truculent), afirmativo (affirmative, assertory, predicative). (various references) | |
Romanian | afirmativ (affirmative, affirmatively, in the affirmative, positive), pozitiv (actual, photo, plus, positive, positively, print), insistent (adhesive, assiduous, clamant, importunate, insistent, insistently, instant, pressing, pushing, urgent, urgently), hotãrât (adamant, appointed, categorical, categorically, certain, certainly, dead, decided, definite, definitely, determined, exactly, firm, firmly, flat, flatly, forthright, foursquare, game, gritty, hell-bent, manful, pertinacious, plucky, point blank, positively, purposeful, resolute, resolved, resolvedly, set, stalwart, steadfast, sticky, strong-minded, sturdy, sure, surely, trenchant, unfaltering, unflinching, unflinchingly, unhesitatingly, vigorous), dogmatic (doctrinal, dogmatic, dogmatically, opinionated, opinioned, peremptory, scholastic, sectarian), încrezut (arrogant, bumptious, cocksure, cocky, conceited, high minded, jackanapes, opinioned, presuming, presumptuous, self confident, self-conceited, self-important, stuck up, supercilious, uppish, vain). (various references) | |
Russian | напористый (hotshort, hotshot, pushing, pushy, self-assertive, up and coming). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | samopouzdan (confident, self confident, self-reliant), pun pouzdanja (reliant), pouzdan (assuming, certain, dependable, reliable, sure, surefire, trustworthy, trusty). (various references) | |
Spanish | asertivo, afirmativo (affirmative, positive), positivo (definite, helpful, plus, positive), perentorio (final, imperative, peremptory), expreso (clear, emphatic, espresso, exact, explicit, express, fast, formally, specific). (various references) | |
Swedish | uttrycklig (declared, distinct, explicit, express), påstridig (headstrong, opinionated), bestämd (assuredly, clear-cut, concise, definite, determined, devoted, emphatic, express, fixed, given, intended, meant, particular, peremptory, positive, resolute, set, settled, specific, without fail). (various references) | |
Thai | ซึ่งยืนยันอย่างมั่นใจ. (various references) | |
Turkish | savunan (apologetic, apologetical, defensive), olumlu (affirmative, content, favorable, favourable, peremptory), kesin (absolute, accurate, categorical, certain, cheese it, clean-cut, clear-cut, conclusive, decided, decisive, declared, definite, definitive, determined, dogmatic, downright, exact, express, extreme, final, firm, flat, frozen, implicit, indisputable, indubitable, irreversible, irrevocable, mathematical, ocular, outright, peremptory, point blank, pointed, precise, pronounced, rigid, rigorous, round, safe, scientific, specific, spot-on, Square, stark, sure, sure as death, unambiguous, uncompromising, undoubted, unquestionable, unquestioned, unquestioning, utter), kendine çok güvenen (overconfident, presuming, presumptuous, self-assertive), iddialı (artsy, disputed, pretentious). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | стверджувальний (affirmant, affirmative), самовпевнений (arrogant, assuming, assumptive, assured, bold, bumptious, calm, chesty, cocksure, cocksy, confident, coxy, nervy, nose-wise, opinionated, opinioned, overconfident, overweening, perk, positive, presuming, reliant, self confident, self sufficient, self-assertive, self-assured, self-opinionated, upstart), позитивний (affirmative, plus, positive, staid), догматичний (doctrinal, dogmatic, dogmatical, oracular, oraculous, peremptory, pontifical, pragmatical). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | xác nhận (confirmative, predicative), quyết đoán (dogmatic), quả quyết (decisive, unconditional), khẳng định (categorical, positive, positively). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "assertive": assertively, assertiveness, assertivenesses. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "assertive": nonassertive, overassertive, unassertive. (additional references) | |
Words containing "assertive": unassertively. (additional references) | |
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"Assertive" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: asertiv, asertive, assertiv, assistive, assortive, insertive. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "assertive" (pronounced user"tiv) |
| 4 | -er" t i v | furtive. |
| 3 | -t i v | accommodative, abortive, accumulative, accusative, acquisitive, active, adaptive, addictive, additive, adjective, administrative, adoptive, affective, affirmative, alliterative, alternative, anticompetitive, appointive, appreciative, argumentative, assaultive, attentive, attractive, authoritative, automotive, captive, causative, cognitive, collaborative, collective, combative, commemorative, communicative, comparative, competitive, conductive, congestive, connective, consecutive, conservative, constructive, consultative, contemplative, contraceptive, cooperative, corrective, corruptive, counterproductive, creative, cumulative, curative, deceptive, decorative, defective, definitive, degenerative, deliberative, demonstrative, derivative, descriptive, destructive, detective, digestive, dilutive, diminutive, directive, disincentive, disparages, dispositive, disruptive, dissipative, distinctive, distributive, duplicative, effective, elective, elucidative, eruptive, evocative, executive, exhaustive, expletive, exploitative, exploitive, facultative, Federative, festive, figurative, fixative, formative, fugitive, generative, hyperactive, hypersensitive, illustrative, imaginative, imitative, imperative, inactive, inattentive, incentive, indicative, ineffective, infective, infinitive, informative, initiative, injunctive, innovative, inoperative, inquisitive, insensitive, instinctive, instructive, interactive, interpretive, introspective, intuitive, invective, inventive, investigative, irrespective, iterative, laxative, legislative, locomotive, lucrative, manipulative, meditative, motive, narrative, native, negative, neoconservative, nonautomotive, noncompetitive, noncumulative, nonexecutive, nonnative, nonproductive, normative, nutritive, objective, obstructive, octave, operative, overactive, palliative, participative, pejorative, perceptive, perspective, photoconductive, plaintive, positive, predictive, preemptive, prerogative, preservative, presumptive, preventative, preventive, primitive, proactive, probative, productive, prognosticative, prohibitive, projective, prospective, protective, provocative, punitive, putative, qualitative, quantitative, radioactive, reactive, receptive, reconstructive, recuperative, redemptive, redistributive, reflective, refractive, regulative, rehabilitative, relative, remunerative, rep, repetitive, representative, reproductive, respective, restive, restorative, restrictive, retroactive, retrospective, secretive, sedative, seductive, selective, sensitive, speculative, stimulative, subjective, substantive, suggestive, superconductive, superlative, supportive, talkative, tentative, ultraconservative, unattractive, uncompetitive, uncooperative, unimaginative, uninformative, unproductive, unreceptive, unrepresentative, vegetative, vindictive, vituperative. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-e-i-r-s-s-t-v" | |
-1 letter: seriates, vestries. | |
-2 letters: aeriest, easiest, easters, reseats, resites, restive, revests, revises, satires, searest, seaters, seriate, starves, stivers, strives, teasers, tessera, vastier, veriest, verists, veritas, verites, versets, verstes, vitesse. | |
-3 letters: aeries, airest, aivers, aretes, arises, assert, asters, averse, averts, easier, easies, easter, eaters, erases, esters, everts, evites, raises, reaves, reests, reives, reseat, resets, resist. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-e-i-r-s-s-t-v" | |
+1 letter: advertises, invertases, timesavers, travesties, vestiaries. | |
+2 letters: adversities, advertisers, assertively, eviscerates, privateness, revitalises, severalties, unassertive. | |
+3 letters: abortiveness, adversatives, asseverating, asseveration, asseverative, creativeness, everlastings, harvesttimes, nonassertive, reactiveness, reservations, restoratives, shrievalties, subvarieties, superlatives, transceivers, transvestite, verticalness. | |
+4 letters: antislaveries, assertiveness, asseverations, conservatives, conservatizes, eviscerations, extraversions, festivalgoers, intravenouses, lucrativeness, misadventures, normativeness, observatories, operativeness, overasserting, overassertion, overassertive, overestimates, preservations, preservatives, privatenesses, resuscitative, tergiversates, transgressive, transvestites, unassertively, veritableness, versatileness, versatilities. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Quotations: Familiar 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
