What does conative mean?
Conative is an adjective describing anything related to conation — the mental faculty of striving, willing, or deliberately directing effort toward action. It belongs to a classical trio of terms used in psychology and philosophy alongside cognitive (pertaining to knowing) and affective (pertaining to feeling): where cognition grasps and emotion responds, the conative dimension covers intention, motivation, and the push to act. The word appears mainly in formal academic contexts — psychology, philosophy, linguistics — rather than casual conversation, giving it a precise, scholarly register. In linguistics, it can describe verbal constructions expressing attempt or endeavor rather than completion. Derived from the Latin conari, meaning 'to try' or 'to endeavor,' conative offers writers and thinkers a compact way to name the willful, goal-directed side of human experience that everyday vocabulary tends to blur into vague notions of motivation.
Relating to conation — the mental faculty of striving, willing, or purposive effort directed at action.
"Motivation researchers distinguish the conative dimension of behavior from its cognitive and emotional dimensions."
Primarily technical; commonest in psychology and philosophy of mind.
Of a grammatical construction or verb sense: expressing attempt or endeavor rather than completed action.
"In some languages, the conative construction signals that an action was tried but not achieved."
Specialized usage within linguistic typology.
Aristotle divided the soul into thinking, feeling, and striving — and 'conative' is the rare word English kept for that third part.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of conative
Conative derives from the Latin verb conari, meaning 'to try,' 'to endeavor,' or 'to strive.' It entered English through learned usage in the 17th century as scholars systematized classical accounts of the mind, particularly Aristotle's division of the psyche into knowing, feeling, and striving faculties. Its most notable cognate is the noun conation, the corresponding term for the striving faculty itself, along with the philosophical notion of conatus developed by thinkers such as Spinoza and Leibniz.
Related word forms
How conative is actually used
Formal and technical; found chiefly in psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and academic writing rather than everyday speech. Neutral to positive connotation, suggesting drive and determination.
Easily confused with conative
Cognitive relates to knowing and thinking, whereas conative relates to willing, striving, and purposive action.
Connate means inborn or existing from birth, while conative describes mental processes of striving and intention.