recursive
adjective
re·cur·sive ri-ˈkər-siv 
1
: of, relating to, or involving recursion
a recursive function in a computer program
2
: of, relating to, or constituting a procedure that can repeat itself indefinitely
a recursive rule in a grammar
recursively adverb
recursiveness noun
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web But getting there wended viewers through television that was frustratingly recursive, holding the show and its talent effectively in stasis (with June inching towards freedom, then getting slapped back) for years. 
Daniel D'addario, Variety, 8 Sep. 2022 There is something bleakly recursive in watching as these stories are sold, and sold, and sold again. Molly Fischer, The New Yorker, 13 June 2022 That is a mind-bending form of recursive thinking, for sure. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 1 June 2022 Use your mouse to lift any one of those new shapes, then move it onto another grid for the sake of a recursive formula application. Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, 22 Apr. 2022 His recursive vocal tics seem to mirror the roundabout symmetry of the viral dances featured in his videos. Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 11 Apr. 2022 The film contains recursive layers of art imitating life, with Kopernikus’s own son, Louis Nӕss-Schmidt, playing the young Jørn and Kopernikus playing Nicolaj, a version of himself. Nicolaj Kopernikus, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2022 The motifs—cascading green code, simulation theory, white rabbits—remain the same, a recursive loop that, while not new, plays a familiar melody. Angela Watercutter, Wired, 22 Dec. 2021 His repetitions make his music feel like it’s moving inward, in recursive patterns that feel intricate and endless, like fractals. Washington Post, 10 Dec. 2021 See More
Daniel D'addario, Variety, 8 Sep. 2022 There is something bleakly recursive in watching as these stories are sold, and sold, and sold again. Molly Fischer, The New Yorker, 13 June 2022 That is a mind-bending form of recursive thinking, for sure. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 1 June 2022 Use your mouse to lift any one of those new shapes, then move it onto another grid for the sake of a recursive formula application. Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, 22 Apr. 2022 His recursive vocal tics seem to mirror the roundabout symmetry of the viral dances featured in his videos. Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 11 Apr. 2022 The film contains recursive layers of art imitating life, with Kopernikus’s own son, Louis Nӕss-Schmidt, playing the young Jørn and Kopernikus playing Nicolaj, a version of himself. Nicolaj Kopernikus, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2022 The motifs—cascading green code, simulation theory, white rabbits—remain the same, a recursive loop that, while not new, plays a familiar melody. Angela Watercutter, Wired, 22 Dec. 2021 His repetitions make his music feel like it’s moving inward, in recursive patterns that feel intricate and endless, like fractals. Washington Post, 10 Dec. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
earlier, "recurring repeatedly," from Latin recursus, past participle of recurrere "to run back, run in the opposite direction, return" + -ive; in given senses as translation of German rekurrent or rekursiv — more at recur
First Known Use
1934, in the meaning defined at sense 1