Make Your Point: CONDUCIVE

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CONDUCIVE

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

pronounce CONDUCIVE:

kun DOO siv

connect this word to others:

As I've mentioned before, words like reduce, deduce, induce, produce, and introduce all have something to do with leading, and they all trace back to the Latin ducere, "to lead."

So does conducive, the word we're checking out today.

See if you can recall a few lesser-known members of the ducere family:

1. Literally "to lead to," __duce means "to offer something as evidence or support for the idea you're trying to prove."

2. Literally "to lead out," _duce means "to infer something: to figure it out from something else."

3. Literally "to lead across," t__duce means "to talk trash about someone, as if parading their faults in front of everyone."

And that leads us to conducive, literally "leading together." Let's explore it!

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

At the heart of "conducive" is the verb "conduce," a word we don't use much. It literally means "to lead together" and traces back to the Latin ducere, "to lead." In English, while "conduce" started out meaning "to lead together," over the centuries it grew to mean "to lead toward (some specific result)." You can still say that one thing conduces to (helps lead to) another, as in "Certain features of campus life conduce to the victim culture (Washington Post)" and "Nothing conduces to brevity like a caving in of the knees (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., who claimed he wrote more succinctly if he did it standing up)."

But again, we hardly ever say "conduce."

We do use the adjective, though. Something conducive to some purpose or goal is helpful because it leads us to that purpose or goal.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "Finally! The weather is conducive to having a picnic."

Other forms:

The other forms are rare, but you've got the verbs ("conduce," "conduced," and "conducing"); an adverb ("conducively"); a hideous noun ("conduciveness," ugh, why not "conducivity"?); and two equally clumsy adjectives for the opposite of "conducive" ("inconducive" and "unconducive").

how to use it:

Pick the serious, common, somewhat clunky word "conducive" when you want to sound formal as you talk about conditions and environments that do (and don't) help to lead to certain good outcomes.

For example: "I've set up a homework station for my daughter that I hope is conducive to quiet, thoughtful, comfortable work."

Much of the time, when we use "conducive," we're pointing out how something is not conducive to some goal or purpose: "Doomscrolling before bed isn't conducive to good sleep." "This rough, bumpy table just isn't conducive to writing by hand." Here's the New York Times: "The very term ['isolationism'] evokes an intensely partisan response, hardly conducive to reasoned discourse."

As you probably noticed, something can be conducive either to a thing ("This soft music is conducive to good sleep") or to doing a thing ("The music is conducive to sleeping well").

examples:

"They brought in soil for this project because the desert dirt wasn't conducive to growing things."
— Samira Ahmed, Internment, 2019

"As often as I could I chose the small wood roads, and they are not conducive to speed."
— John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley in Search of America, 1962

has this page helped you understand "conducive"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "conducive" without saying "promotive" or "contributory."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "Little can be said in favor of (something bad), but it is conducive to (something good)."

Example 1: "As I heard from a family member, little can be said in favor of being hospitalized, but it is conducive to hearing from everyone you love how much they care for you and how hard they're rooting for you to get well."

Example 2: "Little can be said in favor of prison, but enforced isolation is conducive to study."
— Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, 1994

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is Just Joshing: John Oliver Edition!

Flex your creativity and word-finding skills as you fill in the blanks to create your own joke, following the example of the comedian John Oliver. Since the LOLs are in the details, try making your joke as specific (or weird) as possible.

For example, if I give you "The only things you should be buying on eBay are _____ and _____," then you might give me "The only things you should be buying on eBay are pieces of gum chewed by Elvis and unassembled snowmen." (Oliver's actual joke was "The only things you should be buying on eBay are vintage RadioShack swag and a discarded e-meter from the Church of Scientology.")

Try this one today:

"He doesn't seem that excited... Because he just said 'All right, let me get to this' in the exact tone of a _____ who _____."

To see my crack at it, as well as Oliver's original joke, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. The most precise opposites of CONDUCIVE are INCONDUCIVE and UNCONDUCIVE. But some pretty close opposites of CONDUCIVE are

A. INTRICATE and EXQUISITE.
B. DIVERSE and MISCELLANEOUS.
C. HINDERING and OBSTRUCTIVE.

2. Research strongly suggests that regular exercise is conducive _____.

A. to health and happiness
B. within people of every age group
C. against illness, including depression

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CONDUCIVE Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to "Make Your Point" for a daily vocabulary boost.

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CONDUCIVE

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.