directive

Language: en

🇬🇧 /daɪˈrɛktɪv/ 🇺🇸 /dɜrˈɛktɪv/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    An official or authoritative instruction or order issued by a person or body in a position of authority, directing a course of action.; In European Union law, a legislative act that sets out a goal that all EU countries must achieve, but leaves the choice of form and methods to individual countries.; In computing, a compiler directive or preprocessor directive that instructs the compiler or preprocessor to perform a specific action before or during compilation.; In programming, an instruction to a framework or template engine that controls how a section of code or markup is processed.
  2. adjective
    Serving to direct, guide, or instruct; having the quality of giving direction or guidance.; In psychology or counseling, describing an approach in which the therapist or counselor actively guides the client toward specific goals or solutions.; Tending to give orders or instructions in an authoritative manner; domineering in communication style.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable Plural: directives

Collocations

issue a directiveEU directiveexecutive directivepresidential directivecomply with a directivefollow a directive

Derivatives

directdirectiondirectlydirectordirectnessdirectoratedirectorialdirectivity

Synonyms

instructionordercommandedictdecreemandateruling

Commonly confused

direction
EN: 'Direction' refers to a general course or guidance, while 'directive' is a specific authoritative instruction that must be followed.
direct
EN: 'Direct' is primarily a verb or adjective, while 'directive' is a noun (an official order) or an adjective meaning 'serving to direct.'

Spelling tips

EN: Do not confuse 'directive' with 'direction'; note the '-ive' suffix indicating it is an authoritative instruction rather than a general course or path.

💬 Examples

  1. The president issued a directive requiring all federal agencies to reduce energy consumption.

  2. The EU directive on data protection was transposed into national law by each member state.

  3. The #include directive tells the preprocessor to insert the contents of another file.

  4. Angular uses directives like ngIf and ngFor to manipulate the DOM.

  5. The manager adopted a directive leadership style, giving clear instructions to the team.

  6. Directive therapy involves the counselor suggesting specific actions for the patient to take.

  7. Her directive tone made it clear that she expected immediate compliance.