decisive

See also: décisive

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *de

Proto-Indo-European *-h₁

Proto-Indo-European *déh₁

Proto-Italic *dē

Latin dē

Latin dē-

Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd-

Proto-Indo-European *-eti

Proto-Indo-European *kh₂éydeti

Proto-Italic *kaidō

Latin caedō

Latin dēcīdō

Proto-Indo-European *-wós

Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder.

Latin -īvus

Medieval Latin dēcīsīvus

Middle French décisif

English decisive

From Middle French décisif, equivalent to decide +‎ -ive.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈsaɪsɪv/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -aɪsɪv
• (nonstandard) IPA^(key): /dɪˈsɪsɪv/

Adjective

decisive (comparative more decisive, superlative most decisive)

1. Having the power or quality of deciding a question or controversy; putting an end to contest or controversy; final; conclusive.

   decisive vote

   decisive battle

   • 2011 November 3, Chris Bevan, “Rubin Kazan 1 - 0 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport‎^[2], archived from the original on 26 August 2026:

     In truth, Tottenham never really looked like taking all three points and this defeat means they face a battle to reach the knockout stages -with their next home game against PAOK Salonika on 30 November likely to prove decisive.

2. Decided; definite; incontrovertible.

   decisive victory

   • 1949, Joseph Campbell, “The Hero and the God”, in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Pantheon Books:

     [F]abulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: […]

3. Marked by promptness and decision, resolute; without hesitation.

   decisive action

   a decisive person

   • 1804, John Foster, Essays, in a Series of Letters:

     A noble instance of this attribute of the decisive character.

Synonyms

• decided
• positive
• conclusive

Antonyms

• indecisive

Derived terms

• decisively
• decisiveness
• nondecisive
• undecisive

Related terms

• decidable
• decide
• decided

Translations

having the power or quality of deciding a question or controversy — see also deciding,‎ decisory

• Arabic: حاسم m (ḥāsim), حاسمة f (ḥāsima)
• Armenian: վճռական (hy) (včṙakan), որոշիչ (hy) (orošičʻ)
• Azerbaijani: həlledici
• Bulgarian: решаващ (bg) (rešavašt)
• Catalan: decisiu (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 決定性的 / 决定性的 (zh) (juédìngxìng de), 蓋棺定論的 / 盖棺定论的 (zh) (gàiguāndìnglùn de)

• Czech: rozhodující (cs), směrodatný (cs)
• Danish: afgørende
• Dutch: beslissend (nl), afdoend (nl), doorslaggevend (nl)
• Finnish: ratkaiseva (fi)
• French: décisif (fr)
• Galician: decisivo
• German: entscheidend (de), ausschlaggebend (de)
• Greek: αποφασιστικός (el) (apofasistikós)

  Ancient Greek: κρίσιμος (krísimos)

• Hebrew: החלטי (hekhlet'y)
• Hindi: निश्चयार्थक (hi) (niścayārthak), निर्णायक (hi) (nirṇāyak)
• Hungarian: döntő (hu), mérvadó (hu)
• Irish: cinntitheach, cinniúnach
• Italian: decisivo (it), determinante (it), sostanziale (it)
• Latvian: izšķirošs
• Persian: تعیین‌کننده
• Polish: decydujący (pl), przesądzający, rozsądzający
• Portuguese: decisivo (pt)
• Russian: решающий (ru) (rešajuščij)
• Serbo-Croatian: odlùčujūćī, prȅsudan (sh)
• Spanish: decisivo (es)
• Swedish: avgörande (sv), utslagsgivande, bestämmande (sv)
• Ukrainian: виріша́льний (vyrišálʹnyj)

marked by promptness and decision — see also decided

• Armenian: վճռական (hy) (včṙakan)
• Azerbaijani: qəti (az)
• Bulgarian: решителен (bg) (rešitelen)
• Catalan: decisiu (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 果斷 / 果断 (zh) (guǒduàn)

• Czech: rozhodný (cs)
• Danish: beslutsom
• Dutch: besluitvaardig (nl), beslist (nl)
• Finnish: päättäväinen (fi)
• French: ferme (fr), décidé (fr)
• German: entschlussfreudig, entschlossen (de)
• Greek: αποφασιστικός (el) (apofasistikós)
• Hindi: निश्चयार्थक (hi) (niścayārthak), निर्णायक (hi) (nirṇāyak)
• Italian: decisivo (it), deciso (it)
• Polish: stanowczy (pl), zdecydowany (pl), bezapelacyjny (pl)
• Portuguese: decidido (pt)
• Russian: реши́тельный (ru) (rešítelʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: ȍdlūčan (sh)
• Swedish: beslutsam (sv), fast (sv), resolut (sv), bestämd (sv)
• Ukrainian: рішу́чий (rišúčyj)

References

• “decisive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “decisive”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• iDevices

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.t͡ʃiˈzi.ve/
• Rhymes: -ive
• Hyphenation: de‧ci‧sì‧ve

Adjective

decisive

1. feminine plural of decisivo