as in secondary
taken or created from something original or basic
a derivative style taken from earlier painters
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in derivation
something that naturally develops or is developed from something else
the whole field of industrial robots is a derivative of technology developed for the space program
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of derivative
Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 16 May 2025
Financial markets throbbed with a panoply of new financial institutions — hedge funds — trading new financial instruments — derivative securities — the values of which were tied to still other financial instruments like home mortgages.
—Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 11 May 2025
Rosa Jisoo Pyo, Vogue, 28 Apr. 2025
Mazda was considering an SUV derivative of the 6e for North America — rumored to be called the Mazda CX-6e — but the current stiff tariffs don’t bode well for vehicles built outside the US.
—Peter Lyon, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for derivative
Adjective
By comparison, when Tesla was incorporated in Delaware, a shareholder who held just nine shares of Tesla stock was the plaintiff in a shareholder derivative suit that resulted in a judge ordering CEO Elon Musk’s 2018 CEO compensation package to be rescinded, Lipton noted.
—Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 16 May 2025
Financial markets throbbed with a panoply of new financial institutions — hedge funds — trading new financial instruments — derivative securities — the values of which were tied to still other financial instruments like home mortgages.
—Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 11 May 2025
Noun
The stable and water-soluble derivative of vitamin C can be used by all skin types.
—Rosa Jisoo Pyo, Vogue, 28 Apr. 2025
Mazda was considering an SUV derivative of the 6e for North America — rumored to be called the Mazda CX-6e — but the current stiff tariffs don’t bode well for vehicles built outside the US.
—Peter Lyon, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for derivative
Recent Examples of Synonyms for derivative
Adjective
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Sports Inside the 2025 NFL schedule: 13 things to know about this season’s games May 14, 2025 The secondary depth could cause headaches for Clinkscale.—
Thuc Nhi Nguyen,
Los Angeles Times,
28 May 2025
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Project Emery took a blow as playing Europa League football next season was a secondary target.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
28 May 2025
Noun
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Look for people dressed as Jab Jab, the Grenadian devil-like figure (its name is a derivation of diable or devil in French).—
Mark Ellwood,
AFAR Media,
26 May 2025
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The new proof broadly consists of three steps: derive the macroscopic theory from the mesoscopic one; derive the mesoscopic theory from the microscopic one; and then stitch them together in a single derivation of the macroscopic laws all the way from the microscopic ones.—
Jack Murtagh,
Scientific American,
14 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Coinbase bought a crypto derivates exchange, Deribit, for $2.9 billion .—
Morgan Chittum,
CNBC,
16 May 2025
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With unique enough lore and a unique style, Saxon avoids making a derivate fable.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
27 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Derivative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/derivative. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.
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