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: op-ta-tive. The stress falls on "op".

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.