Word family noun prediction predictability ≠ unpredictability predictor adjective predictable ≠ unpredictable predictive verb predict adverb predictably ≠ unpredictably
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpredictivepre‧dict‧ive /prɪˈdɪktɪv/ adjective [usually before noun] formal relating to the ability to show what is going to happen in the future Dreams, even vivid ones, have little predictive value.Examples from the Corpus
predictive• Future advances in technology may disclose other, more sensitive markers of cell proliferation whose predictive accuracy is greater.• However, such statistics are descriptive, nor predictive, and must be treated with caution.• Newton's physical theories, however, are a good example of how a scientific theory may be predictive as well as explanatory.• However, such theories have limited predictive capability in that we can not measure the individual's perception of values.• Furthermore, rules are not necessarily predictive of behaviour in any straight forward manner.• In its place, realism posited a predictive science of law rooted in the experimental methods of social science.• While it is possible to identify accurately those patients in low-risk groups the positive predictive value of many tests remains poor.• Conclusions are often discordant, however, and the predictive value of the results is often difficult to assess from the data. 