How to Use descriptive in a Sentence

descriptive

adjective
  • The book is a descriptive grammar.
  • She gave a descriptive account of the journey.
  • The team moved on to trends, which the site tracks using descriptive tags.
    — Lauren Collins, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2023
  • The boss, who also wrote the descriptive wine list, sets the right tone.
    — Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 9 June 2023
  • Hickman smiled and promised — in descriptive terms — to get them through their first time.
    — Kylie Volavongsa, jsonline.com, 7 Aug. 2025
  • Vulture is more of a descriptive term for this way of life than a mark of kinship.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Aug. 2019
  • Our titles are now more descriptive rather than based on certain ranks.
    — Adam Bryant, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2017
  • But most Black artists are tasked with being very descriptive.
    — Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 20 Apr. 2023
  • Kivel keeps things moving, with a style that is frank, descriptive, and dry.
    — Lora Kelley, New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2025
  • The language on these early cards was very descriptive.
    — Curtis Silver, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025
  • Think longer-term and bigger, and avoid descriptive word choices.
    — Jim Heininger, Forbes, 4 Jan. 2022
  • Both groups are an anomaly to folks like me who often put shows into a neat, descriptive box.
    — Rory Appleton, The Indianapolis Star, 15 June 2022
  • This is just descriptive data taken from a small number of schools.
    — Christopher J. Ferguson, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 May 2025
  • Between the descriptive chart and the play on font sizes, clarity is achieved.
    — Adrian Dearnell, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2021
  • Break it down in a step-by-step format or descriptive paragraphs that paint the picture of the plan.
    — Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 8 Nov. 2023
  • Even the names of the effects are more tendentious than descriptive.
    — Daniel Engber, Slate Magazine, 12 Sep. 2017
  • Your tags will appear as short, descriptive — and of course clickable — boxes next to those items.
    — Rhonda Abrams, USA TODAY, 21 Mar. 2018
  • The script was pretty descriptive.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Among the most powerful ways of doing this is with a descriptive domain name.
    — Akram Atallah, Forbes, 18 Jan. 2022
  • Whether or not this seems plainly descriptive or ominous is a question for the reader.
    — Curbed, 9 May 2023
  • Whoop’s sleep data tends to be more prescriptive than descriptive.
    — Andrew Gebhart, PC Magazine, 22 Apr. 2026
  • When descriptive norms emerge, people follow suit.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 25 Dec. 2025
  • Maughan’s job was to flesh out those futures in a series of descriptive sketches.
    — Rose Eveleth, WIRED, 12 July 2019
  • The caller is encouraged to add some descriptive details and then hit send.
    — Forrest Sellers, Cincinnati.com, 16 Jan. 2018
  • But the Daodejing is more descriptive than prescriptive – less how-to and more what is.
    — Stephen Chen, The Conversation, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Curnin characterizes the track as descriptive of life today in a sort of dystopian way.
    — David Chiu, Forbes, 10 June 2022
  • The script is filled with sharp details — the descriptive stage directions are like passages from a novel.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 2 Mar. 2025
  • What her work gives the viewer, in the simplest descriptive terms, are glimpses into the everyday.
    — Seth Combscontributor, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Jan. 2023
  • Come up with a basic, descriptive title for each dish; in small text underneath, briefly describe what the dish is.
    — Sophia Beams, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 May 2026
  • There’s just no view from the booth, no amount of watching tape, no amount of lengthy, descriptive talks with drivers that will do the road course justice.
    — Nathan Brown, The Indianapolis Star, 30 July 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'descriptive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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