definite or definitive? These two words are sometimes confused. Both definite and definitive suggest that something is unlikely to be changed: a definite answer is clear, firm, and unambiguous; a definite dateis one that has been decided on and fixed by the people involved. Definitive has connotations of being authoritative and conclusive: the definitive answer to a problem is one that solves it once and for all. If someone writes a definitive biography or plays the definitive Hamlet, that person's book or performance becomes the standard by which all later ones are judged