interpretive.

Concerned with explaining meaning through a particular reading or perspective.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• interpretive framework
• interpretive approach
• interpretive choice

On the page

The critic's interpretive framework places family relations at the center of the novel.

An interpretive approach asks what participants believe the ritual means.

The translation makes an interpretive choice where the original pronoun is ambiguous.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic. Common in humanities and qualitative research. Interpretive does not mean unconstrained by evidence; competing readings still need support. Interpretative is an established variant. Normally non-gradable in this sense; comparison requires a specific contextual scale. Derived family (not inflections): interpretation, interpret. Established spelling variant: interpretative.