Word of the Day: Objective

ob·jec·tive

adjective \əb-ˈjek-tiv, äb-\

: based on facts rather than feelings or opinions : not influenced by feelings

philosophy : existing outside of the mind : existing in the real world

grammar : relating to nouns, noun phrases, or pronouns that are the objects of verbs or prepositions

Full Definition of OBJECTIVE

1a :  relating to or existing as an object of thought without consideration of independent existence —used chiefly in medieval philosophy

b :  of, relating to, or being an object, phenomenon, or condition in the realm of sensible experience independent of individual thought and perceptible by all observers :  having reality independent of the mind <objective reality> <our reveries … are significantly and repeatedly shaped by our transactions with the objective world — Marvin Reznikoff> — compare subjective 3a

c of a symptom of disease :  perceptible to persons other than the affected individual — compare subjective 4c

d :  involving or deriving from sense perception or experience with actual objects, conditions, or phenomena <objective awareness> <objective data>

2:  relating to, characteristic of, or constituting the case of words that follow prepositions or transitive verbs

3a :  expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without distortion by personal feelings, prejudices, or interpretations <objective art> <an objective history of the war> <an objective judgment>
b of a test :  limited to choices of fixed alternatives and reducing subjective factors to a minimum
— ob·jec·tive·ly adverb
— ob·jec·tive·ness noun
— ob·jec·tiv·i·ty noun

Examples of OBJECTIVE

  1. We need someone outside the company to give us an objective analysis.
  2. <an objective assessment based solely upon the results of the experiment>
  3. For no matter how objective Server tries to appear in detailing the highs and lows of her 67 years—the three marriages, the numerous affairs, the binges, the nightlong cruising of low-life byways and bordellos, the mainly poor movies she was in—he cannot really hide his essential fondness for her. —Peter Bogdanovich, New York Times Book Review, 23 Apr. 2006
  4. I’m not going to read the history about it while I’m alive because I don’t trust short-term history. Most historians wouldn’t have voted for me, so I don’t think they can write an objective history. —George W. Bush, quoted in Time, 6 Sept. 2004
  5. “I’m not really a Hollywood person,” said Mr. [Clint] Eastwood, who lives mostly in Carmel. “Not that I don’t like L.A., but I’m just a Northern California guy. And it’s very hard to be objective about what you’re doing in a town that’s all consumed by the entertainment business.” —Bernard Weinraub,New York Times, 6 Aug. 1992

First Known Use of OBJECTIVE

  1. 1647

    Related to OBJECTIVE

    Synonyms
    existential, experiential, experimental, empirical, observational
    Antonyms
    nonempirical, theoretical (also theoretic), unempirical
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