determinative.

Having a decisive role in fixing a result or classification.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• determinative factor
• determinative evidence

On the page

Citizenship was the determinative factor in eligibility.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Normally non-gradable; no ordinary comparative or superlative. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, evaluation. Commonness: moderately common.