Word Explorer

Elective

/ɪˈlɛktɪv/

Something that is an option or that may be elected, like a course of tertiary study or a medical procedure.

📖 Definitions of "Elective"

noun

1
Something that is an option or that may be elected, like a course of tertiary study or a medical procedure.

adjective

1
Of, or pertaining to voting or elections; involving a choice between options.
2
Optional or discretionary; chosen, not mandatory.
"My insurance wouldn't pay for the operation because it was elective surgery."

4 synonyms found via WordNet and Google Books.

Word	Definition
optionalnoun	Not compulsory; left to personal choice; elective.
electednoun	One who is elected.
electoral	Of, or relating to elections.
nonappointive	filled by popular election rather than by appointment

Words with the opposite meaning.

Word	Definition
appointed	(of a politician or a title) Subject to appointment, as opposed to an election.
appointive	Of, pertaining to, or filled by appointment.

Found via reverse dictionary — words that share a conceptual meaning.

Word	Definition
optional	Not compulsory; left to personal choice; elective.
electednoun	One who is elected.
electoralnoun	Of, or relating to elections.
nonappointive	filled by popular election rather than by appointment
optionnoun	One of a set of choices that can be made.
choice	Especially good or preferred.
selective	(of a person) Choosy, fussy or discriminating when selecting.
voluntary	Done, given, or acting of one's own free will.
facultative	Not obligate; optional, discretionary or elective.
discretionary	Available at one's discretion; able to be used as one chooses; left to or regulated by one's own discretion or judgment.
permissive	Giving permission, or predisposed to give it; lenient.
volunteernoun	One who enters into, or offers themselves for, any service of their own free will, especially when done without pay.
redeeming	Able to save people from sin, error or evil.
repurchasenoun	To buy back or again; to regain by purchase.
buybacknoun	The repurchase of something previously sold, especially of stock by the company that issued it.
traineeshipnoun	The condition of, or the time served by, a trainee; training.
buy-backnoun	Alternative form of buyback. [The repurchase of something previously sold, especially of stock by the company that issued it.]
internshipnoun	A job taken by a student in order to learn a profession or trade.
commutedverb	(intransitive, US, UK, Canada) To regularly travel from one's home to one's workplace or school, or vice versa.
non-elective	—