-ativesuff. Of, relating to, or associated with: talkative.[Middle English, from Old French -atif, -ative, from Latin -?t?vus, from -?tus, past participle suff.; see -ate1.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.-ative suffix forming adjectives of, relating to, or tending to: authoritative; decorative; informative. [from Latin -?t?vus, from ?tus -ate1 + ?vus -ive]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014-ative a suffix used to form adjectives from verbs ending in -ate1 (regulative); on this model, used to form adjectives from other stems (normative). [