You use comparative to show that you are judging something against a previous or different situation. For example, comparative calm is a situation which is calmer than before or calmer than the situation in otherplaces.
...those who manage to reach the comparative safety of Fendel.
The task was accomplished with comparative ease.
Synonyms: relative, qualified, by comparison, approximate More Synonyms of comparative
comparativelyadverb [ADVERB adjective/adverb]
...a comparatively small nation.
...children who find it comparatively easy to make and keep friends.
2. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
A comparative study is a study that involves the comparison of two or more things of the same kind.
...a comparative study of the dietary practices of people from various regions.
...a professor of English and comparative literature.
3. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
In grammar, the comparative form of an adjective or adverb shows that something has more of a quality than something else has. For example,'bigger' is the comparative form of 'big', and 'more quickly' is the comparative form of'quickly'. Compare superlative.
Comparative is also a noun.
The comparative of 'pretty' is 'prettier'. [+ of]
English Easy Learning GrammarComparisonThe comparative form of an adjective is commonly used to compare two people, things,or states, when you want to say that one thing has a larger or smaller ... Read more
comparative in British English
(kəmˈpærətɪv)
adjective
1.
denoting or involving comparison
comparative literature
2.
judged by comparison; relative
a comparative loss of prestige
3. grammar
denoting the form of an adjective that indicates that the quality denoted is possessed to a greater extent. In English the comparative form of an adjective is usually marked by the suffix -er or the word more
that compares; involving comparison as a method, esp. in a branch of study
comparative linguistics
2.
estimated by comparison with something else; relative
a comparative success
3. Grammar
designating or of the second degree of comparison of adjectives and adverbs; expressing a greater degree of a quality or attribute than that expressed in the positive degree
usually indicated by the suffix -er
noun
4. Obsolete
a rival
5. Grammar
a.
the comparative degree
b.
a word or form in this degree
Derived forms
comparativeness (comˈparativeness)
noun
Word origin
ME < L comparativus
Examples of 'comparative' in a sentence
comparative
Or rather the comparative lack of it.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Rarely have we enjoyed so long a period of comparative safety.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Is there a polymath out there who might tackle a comparative study of all three?
Christianity Today (2000)
They will do this with comparative ease.
Siann, Gerda & Ugwuegbu, Denis C. E. Educational Psychology in a Changing World (1988)
The company pointed out that it had been up against strong comparative trading in the final quarter of last year.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
He thinks the comparative lack of urgency around the condition is due to a fatal combination of embarrassment and machismo.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
It's clear that a relationship that fl owed with such comparative ease was new for her.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
For many young people in inner cities, there is no alternative to the comparative safety of gang life.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Most importantly, a generation of comparative peace enabled the whole population to recover from a decade of war.
Frank Welsh THE FOUR NATIONS: A History of the United Kingdom (2002)
It is an area of vital importance to modern historians, but they are restricted by a comparative lack of hard evidence.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
All was calm as we studied a pride of lions from the comparative safety of our Land Rover.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
This is particularly important if such times follow long years of comparative calm, ease, and predictability.
Peter F. Drucker MANAGING IN TURBULENT TIMES (1980)
The police cannot protect them from gangs, either; there is often no alternative to the comparative safetyof gang life.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
This was against tough comparative figures and means that it has grown 20 per cent on like-for-like basis over the past three years.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The decline in unit sales was widely expected and reflected tough comparatives because of the launch of the iPhone 6 a year earlier.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
According to Egyptian law, presidential approval is required for any new church to be built but mosques tend to spring up with comparative ease.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In other languages
comparative
British English: comparative ADJECTIVE
You use comparative to show that you are judging something against a previous or different situation.
The task was accomplished with comparative ease.
American English: comparative
Brazilian Portuguese: relativo
Chinese: 比较的 >平静等
European Spanish: relativo
French: relatif
German: relativ
Italian: relativo
Japanese: 比較的
Korean: 비교적인
European Portuguese: relativo
Latin American Spanish: relativo
All related terms of 'comparative'
comparative method
a body of procedures and criteria used by linguists to determine whether and how two or more languages are related and to reconstruct forms of their hypothetical parent language
comparative advantage
An advantage is something that puts you in a better position than other people.
comparative judgment
any judgment about whether there is a difference between two or more stimuli
comparative literature
the comparative study of various national literatures, stressing their influence one upon another, their use of similar forms, their treatment of similar themes , etc.
comparative philology
See comparative linguistics
comparative psychology
the study of the similarities and differences in the behaviour of different species
comparative religion
a field of study seeking to derive general principles from a comparison and classification of the growth and influence of various religions
comparative advertising
a form of advertising in which a product is compared favourably with similar products on the market
comparative lack of
If there is a lack of something, there is not enough of it or it does not exist at all.
comparative linguistics
the study of the correspondences between languages that have a common origin
Chinese translation of 'comparative'
comparative
(kəmˈpærətɪv)
adj
(= relative)[ease, safety, freedom, peace]比较(較)而言的 (bǐjiào ér yán de)