as in secondary
taken or created from something original or basic
a derivative style taken from earlier painters
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in derivation
something that naturally develops or is developed from something else
the whole field of industrial robots is a derivative of technology developed for the space program
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Recent Examples of derivative
Quartz Bot, Quartz, 17 Jan. 2025
The wild proliferation of intensely derivative romantasies has complicated this picture.
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025
Jenny Berg, Allure, 31 Dec. 2024
The tint, inspired by that post-facial glow, is packed with moisturizing, plumping, and reparative ingredients like sodium hyaluronate (a derivative of hyaluronic acid), peptides, ceramides, cactus extract, squalane, and sheer pigments.
—Kiana Murden, Vogue, 31 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for derivative 
Adjective
The company recorded a gain of $18.1 million from derivative liabilities, reflecting changes in the fair value of warrants.
—Quartz Bot, Quartz, 17 Jan. 2025
The wild proliferation of intensely derivative romantasies has complicated this picture.
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025
Noun
Made without animal derivatives, the product is available in 13 shades—including several that cater to blondes.
—Jenny Berg, Allure, 31 Dec. 2024
The tint, inspired by that post-facial glow, is packed with moisturizing, plumping, and reparative ingredients like sodium hyaluronate (a derivative of hyaluronic acid), peptides, ceramides, cactus extract, squalane, and sheer pigments.
—Kiana Murden, Vogue, 31 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for derivative
Recent Examples of Synonyms for derivative
Adjective
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Giants running backs coach Joel Thomas, assistant secondary coach Mike Adams and offensive assistant Angela Baker are also serving as various coaches and coordinators this week in Mobile.—
Charlotte Carroll,
The Athletic,
29 Jan. 2025
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Losing Benford for the game is going to severely impact the Bills' secondary.—
Joel Thayer,
Newsweek,
27 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The chances are that language switching isn’t necessarily active for the chain-of-thought derivations.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
15 Jan. 2025
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But just keep in mind that is the derivation of the three-point shot.—
Ryan Canfield,
Fox News,
30 Oct. 2024
Noun
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The weed contains two psoralen derivates that can darken sick upon exposure to UV light.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
27 Nov. 2024
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This, combined with new and streamlined venues for retail investors to participate in the growing demand for a variety of spot, derivate, and synthetic funds and indices is set to continue push crypto ETF access to new heights.—
Lawrence Wintermeyer,
Forbes,
17 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near derivative
Cite this Entry
“Derivative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/derivative. Accessed 11 Feb. 2025.
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