émotive

Émotive is the feminine singular form of the French adjective émotive, meaning emotional or emotive. In French, adjectives agree with the gender and number of the noun they modify, so the masculine singular form is émotif, the feminine singular is émotive, and the plural forms are émotifs (masculine) and émotives (feminine).

Etymology and sense: The adjective derives from the same root as émouvoir and émotion, highlighting a connection to movement or stirring of feelings. In French usage, émotive describes things that express, evoke, or are capable of arousing emotion. It is commonly applied to people, expressions, or works deemed to be emotionally charged or sentimentally expressive.

Usage and nuance: In reference to people, émotive describes individuals who are easily moved or given to strong emotional responses, often with a personal or intimate connotation. When applied to language or art, it characterizes material designed to provoke an emotional reaction rather than to present factual detail. Examples include phrases like “une scène émotive” (an emotionally charged scene) or “une personne émotive” (an emotional person).

Relationship to English usage: In English, the analogous term is emotive, typically used without an accent. Emotive in English often contrasts with cognitive or factual language, and is also used to describe rhetoric or art intended to elicit feelings. The French form émotive is generally encountered in French texts, or in discussions of French grammar and vocabulary.

See also: emotion, emotional, emotive language, affect.