Word family noun decision indecision adjective decided ≠ undecided decisive ≠ indecisive verb decide adverb decidedly decisively ≠ indecisively
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdecisivede‧ci‧sive /dɪˈsaɪsɪv/ ●○○ adjective 1 DECIDEan action, event etc that is decisive has a big effect on the way that something developsdecisive factor/effect/influence etc Women can play a decisive role in the debate over cloning.decisive action/steps We will take decisive steps towards political union with Europe.2 DECIDEsomeone who is decisive is good at making decisions quickly and with confidence OPP indecisive a decisive leader a talent for quick decisive action3 definite and clear in a way that leaves no doubt OPP indecisivedecisive victory/result/defeat etc The answer was a decisive no. —decisively adverb Yet again, we have failed to act decisively. —decisiveness noun [uncountable] military decisiveness the speed and decisiveness of his victoryExamples from the Corpus
decisive• We are still waiting for Jim to make up his mind. I wish he would be more decisive.• In any race during the previous four years that would have been decisive.• the decisive battle of the war• a decisive election victory• Gradually it emerged that his concern for his country was the decisive factor in his changed attitude.• However well you try to equip yourself, qualifications are unlikely to be the decisive factor.• In numerous races, evangelical voters were of decisive influence in deciding the outcome.• This country needs strong, decisive leadership.• The door was opened by the gipsy girl who with a decisive movement turned the handle and pulled it wide.• When asked about the possibility, his answer was a decisive "no."• It found that had Costa Rica been consulted, its opinion would have been decisive, precisely the situation envisaged in 1858.• In connection with the depiction of home makers as competent and decisive, the reader is offered two important insights here.• I thought I might win something decisive with her.decisive factor/effect/influence etc• However well you try to equip yourself, qualifications are unlikely to be the decisive factor.• In the future, aircraft will be the decisive factor.• In numerous races, evangelical voters were of decisive influence in deciding the outcome.• The death of his wife in 1849 was probably a decisive factor in Hill's decision to quit.• Gradually it emerged that his concern for his country was the decisive factor in his changed attitude.• Yet extending family is such a decisive factor in the success of working parents, they really can not afford their reluctance.• Now it might be argued that ontologically the decisive factor is that on opening his eyes he found again two distinct individuals.• Moreover, it was an event that had a decisive influence on the way macro-policy evolved.decisive action• By streamlining operations, they took the proper, decisive action.• No one else could have done this as well as Lanfranc with his orderly mind and power of decisive action.• Suddenly Newland Archer felt himself impelled to decisive action.• When will the Government take decisive action and end the hell of a mess in that section of industry?• Conversely, there might be too little capacity for decisive action in a cabinet system when there is no stable majority.• Scottsdale voters took the most decisive action last May, approving a sales-tax increase to buy land in the McDowell Mountains.• David Oakenson says that if guilt is proved then decisive action should be taken.• Much stronger pressures and probably more decisive action was necessary in these circumstances.decisive victory/result/defeat etc• He wanted forces capable of quick, decisive victories against diplomatically isolated opponents.• At last the moment to silence all the doubters with a decisive victory arrived.• William of Orange is seen to have worked the decisive victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.• As it happens the outcome, in my view, is a decisive victory for the individual organism.• Hugo Chavez won a decisive victory over Francisco Arias in his bid for a six-year term as Venzuela's president.• Nixon, meanwhile, spoke and acted as if the United States had won a decisive victory under his command.• He took four of six rounds and yet without ever making his supporters believe that a decisive victory was on the cards.• If anything, Karpov had the better of these three draws, but at least decisive results were somehow once again in the air. 