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Substantive and substantial are quite a pair: the two have multiple similar meanings, can both ultimately be traced back to the same Latin root (the verb substare, whose figurative meaning is best understood as “to stand firm” or “to hold out”), and both made their first appearance in English sometime in the 14th century. But though they can be used interchangeably in some contexts (one can make “substantive progress” or “substantial progress,” for example), we usually use substantial to describe things that are large in size, scope, or extent (e.g., “a substantial amount,” “substantial increase”), while substantive is more likely to be used as a synonym of significant, real, or important. Substantive change, for example, is change that makes a fundamental difference, regardless of its size. Substantive also functions in grammar-related contexts describing or referring to nouns and noun phrases.
Synonyms
Examples of substantive in a Sentence
Jackie Calmes & Carl Hulse, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2009
The first substantive issue that the Supreme Court considered in its Brown opinion was whether, as originally understood, the Fourteenth Amendment prohibited racial segregation in public schooling. The justices concluded that the historical record was inconclusive.
—Randall Kennedy, New Republic, 5 & 12 July 2004
The common critique of art's pleasures and entertainments—that they are trivial, devoid of substantive value, and degrading of art's genuine worth—rests on ignoring this diversity by making two false assumptions: first, that there is basically one kind of aesthetic pleasure in art's entertainment and, secondly, that this pleasure is always a shallow and trivial one, which distracts us from interest in art's real meaning and truth.
—Richard Shusterman, Let's Entertain: Life's Guilty Pleasures, 2000
These changes are more symbolic than substantive.
No substantive changes were made to the document.
There is no substantive reason to change the law.
Maury Brown, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024
Not just that the House, coming off of its least productive year in modern history, managed to pass a substantive bill.
—Bridget Grumet, Austin American-Statesman, 22 Nov. 2024
Maggie Astor, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2023
With his substantive, agreeably granular bass, David Grogan gave prophetic warnings real authority.
—Dallas News, 23 Dec. 2022
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Cite this Entry
“Substantive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/substantive. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
substantive
1 of 2 noun
substantive
2 of 2 adjectiveLegal Definition
substantive
adjective
United States v. Elliot, 571 F.2d 880 (1978) 
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