Corrective

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /kəˈɹɛktɪv/

Definitions

1. Providing adjustments aimed at improving situations or behaviors
2. Designed to bring about improvement or remedy faults
3. Serving to address and rectify errors or difficulties

Etymology: "Corrective" is a plain formation: it is the Old French-derived adjective "correctif" carried into English, built from "correct" with the suffix "-ive." The suffix "-ive" marks a quality or tendency, so the word describes something with the capacity to set things right. The base "correct" comes from Latin "corrigere," meaning to make straight or to set right, with "con-" intensifying "regere," to guide or rule. The adjective is also used as a noun, most familiarly in the sense of a measure taken to fix a problem, such as "corrective surgery" or "corrective lenses." Its sense of rectifying something runs parallel to the older root idea of making a thing straight again, which is why the meaning has stayed close to its physical origin.

Synonyms: remedial, rectifying, amendatory

Antonyms: incorrective