1. abortive - Noun
2. abortive - Adjective
3. abortive - Verb
5. abortive - Adjective Satellite
Produced by abortion; born prematurely; as, an abortive child.
Made from the skin of a still-born animal; as, abortive vellum.
Rendering fruitless or ineffectual.
Coming to naught; failing in its effect; miscarrying; fruitless; unsuccessful; as, an abortive attempt.
Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile; as, an abortive organ, stamen, ovule, etc.
Causing abortion; as, abortive medicines.
Cutting short; as, abortive treatment of typhoid fever.
That which is born or brought forth prematurely; an abortion.
A fruitless effort or issue.
A medicine to which is attributed the property of causing abortion.
Source: Webster's dictionaryWith all his sincerity and devotion, the authentic, absolute atheist is after all only an abortive saint, and at the same time, a mistaken revolutionist. Jacques Maritain
Gatsby turned out all right at the end it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men. F. Scott Fitzgerald
Like all power seekers, Pae was amazingly shortsighted. There was a trivial, abortive quality to his mind, it lacked depth, affect, imagination. It was, in fact, a primitive instrument. Ursula K. Le Guin
But fashion is the abortive issue of vain ostentation and exclusive egotism: it is haughty, trifling, affected, servile, despotic, mean and ambitious, precise and fantastical, all in a breath - tied to no rule, and bound to conform to every whim of the minute. William Hazlitt
I am persuaded, that if any attempt is made to improve the education of the poor, and such an unmanly spirit should guide the resolution of a society or committee for that purpose, it would render the design abortive. Joseph Lancaster
The whole presents nothing but the idea of a blind Nature, impregnated by a great vivifying principle, and pouring forth from her lap, without discernment or parental care, her maimed and abortive children! David Hume