Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Applauding; containing applause; of the nature of applause.
  • Worthy of applause. Chapman.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Expressing applause; approbative.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Conveying applause.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Formed as applaus- (the perfect passive participial stem of the Latin applaudō) +‎ -ive, thus resembling a regular Anglicisation of a hypothetical Latin etymon of the form *applausīvus.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word applausive.

Examples

  • When the murmur of this applausive exclamation had subsided, Alexius proceeded: — “Once more, I say, that my faithful Grand Domestic, and those who act under him, will take care to commit the execution of such part of these orders as may seem aggressive, to troops of foreign appearance and language, which, I grieve to say, are more numerous in our imperial army than our natural-born and orthodox subjects.”

    Count Robert of Paris 2008

  • Maitre Pierre, in whom the bravado of the young gallant seemed only to excite laughter, more scornful than applausive.

    Quentin Durward 2008

  • (“Good-by, men!”), and vanished with us from their applausive presence.

    Familiar Spanish Travels 2004

  • Clearly he was amused — as amused as a man could be who was so little ever surprised, and that made him almost applausive.

    The Portrait of a Lady 2003

  • For, as Nathalie passed through the long _salons_, she was followed by such a trail of whispers, envious, malicious, amazed, from the women, universally applausive from the men, that the Countess suddenly realized that she held in her hands

    The Genius Margaret Horton Potter

  • Silk gowns and snowy wigs raise the applausive roar!

    Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, February 14, 1891 Various

  • His lordship kindly gratified them as much as possible, with a sight of his person, by repeatedly presenting himself at the window; and was as repeatedly greeted by the grateful and applausive shouts of the surrounding multitude, invoking Heaven's best blessings on the noble champion of his country.

    The Life of the Right Honourable Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson, Volume 2 James Harrison

  • He can listen to a foolish discourse with an applausive attention, and conceal his laughter at nonsense.

    Microcosmography or, a Piece of the World Discovered; in Essays and Characters John Earle

  • Alice's talk was little more than cheerful sound, but, to fill a desolate interval, served its purpose; and her mother supported her with ever-faithful cooings of applausive laughter.

    Alice Adams 1921

  • Add to the fact of the challenge, another fact, that she is of Irish blood, and that her gallery gods are just inside the door, and it is a pity her audience should be merely the hens and I. Thus do I ever hover at hand, softly applausive of my mother's defense of her garden, secretly appreciative of the devious ways of vegetables, witnessing -- to forgive -- the wanderings of my father's flock.

    The Joys of Being a Woman and Other Papers 1918

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • . . . it was not that she thought what Dan had just said was so very funny, but people are immoderately applausive of amateur dramatics, and she was feeling very fond of the young fellow.

    --William Dean Howells, 1887, April Hopes

    April 15, 2010