Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In psychology, relating to conation; of the nature of conation; exertive; endeavoring.
  • In grammar, expressing endeavor or effort.

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

  • adjective Of or pertaining to conation.

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

  • adjective Of or pertaining to a striving action.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin conatio ("an act of attempting")

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Examples

  • In these cases we have what Jakobson calls the conative function, what other linguists refer to as the appellative, imperative or directive function.

    Notes on Strange Fiction: Narrative's Function (2) Hal Duncan 2008

  • In these cases we have what Jakobson calls the conative function, what other linguists refer to as the appellative, imperative or directive function.

    Archive 2008-09-01 Hal Duncan 2008

  • In these cases we have what Jakobson calls the conative function, what other linguists refer to as the appellative, imperative or directive function.

    Notes From The Geek Show 2008

  • The index identifies people's natural instincts (or "conative" skills), so they can choose environments and situations where their instinctual style thrives.

    a) Doctor b) Builder c) Cop d) HELP! 2010

  • They must be conative rather than cognitive states, or at the very least be composites to which the non-cognitive component is essential.

    Boys in White Suits 2009

  • Thus Velleman (1999) argues that robust concern views, by understanding love merely as a matter of aiming at a particular end (viz., the welfare of one's beloved), understand love to be merely conative.

    Love Helm, Bennett 2009

  • Meinong based values on feelings and not on desires, and he critically contrasted his kind of emotivism to Ehrenfels™ voluntarism, a more conative, desire-based theory of values.

    Salvation Santa 2009

  • Nevertheless, they have intentional contents rationally responsive to a broader range of background conative and cognitive states of the experiencer.

    Pain Aydede, Murat 2009

  • Meinong's application of the serious/fantasy distinction to all kinds of mental acts (including the affective and conative dimension) may seem too schematic and controversial, but leads to remarkable insights into phenomena like art, into understanding the role of emotions in writing and reading fiction, for example.

    Salvation Santa 2009

  • And, if approval is a conative rather than a cognitive attitude, we might say that she expressed a non-cognitive attitude.

    Boys in White Suits 2009

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