1. operative - Noun
2. operative - Adjective
3. operative - Adjective Satellite
Having the power of acting; hence, exerting force, physical or moral; active in the production of effects; as, an operative motive.
Producing the appropriate or designed effect; efficacious; as, an operative dose, rule, or penalty.
Based upon, or consisting of, an operation or operations; as, operative surgery.
A skilled worker; an artisan; esp., one who operates a machine in a mill or manufactory.
Source: Webster's dictionaryThe way in which a society organizes the life of its members ... is one "project” of realization among others. But once the project has become operative in the basic institutions and relations, it tends to become exclusive and to determine the development of the society as a whole. Herbert Marcuse
A man can never have too much Time to himself, nor too little to do. Had I a little son, I would christen him Nothing-To-Do; he should do nothing. Man, I verily believe, is out of his element as long as he is operative. I am altogether for the life contemplative. Charles Lamb
The two things I was positive about in life were that I was going to be a teacher at a boarding school or an operative with the CIA posted abroad. I could write a book about all the things I was sure about. Tucker Carlson
The employee is regarded by the employer merely in the light of his value as an operative. His productive capacity alone is taken into account. Leland Stanford
Only in action can you fully realize the forces operative in social behavior. That is why I am an experimentalist. Stanley Milgram
Even in the act of composition, the poet is in a state in which the reflective elements are subordinated to the intuitive. The vision, however, is not operative for so long as it continues, its very stress acts as a check on expression. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan