optative

Questions about optative

What does optative mean?

optative means "indicating an option or wish". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in optative?

optative has 3 syllables and divides as op-ta-tive under the regular spelling rules. It is not in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, so that comes from how the word is written rather than from a recorded pronunciation, and no stress or phonetic transcription is claimed for it.

What is another word for optative?

Close synonyms include optative mood. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is optative a common word?

optative is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.