formative.

Having an important influence on subsequent development.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• formative experience
• formative years

On the page

The apprenticeship was a formative experience for the young designer.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Comparative more formative; superlative most formative when comparison is meaningful. 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.