Adjacent Words

Significant definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SIGNIF'ICANT, a. [L. signigicans.]
1. Expressive of something beyond the external mark.
2. Bearing a meaning; expressing or containing signification of sense; as a significant word or sound; a significant look.
3. Betokening something; standing as a sign of something. It was well said of Plotinus, that the stars were significant, but not efficient.
4. Expressive or representative of some fact or event, The passover among the Jews was significant of the escape of the Israelites from the destruction which fell on the Egyptians. The bread and wine in the sacrament are significant of the body and blood of Christ.
5. Important; momentous. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: important in effect or meaning; "a significant change in tax laws"; "a significant change in the Constitution"; "a significant contribution"; "significant details"; "statistically significant" [syn: significant, important] [ant: insignificant, unimportant]
2: fairly large; "won by a substantial margin" [syn: significant, substantial]
3: too closely correlated to be attributed to chance and therefore indicating a systematic relation; "the interaction effect is significant at the .01 level"; "no significant difference was found" [ant: nonsignificant]
4: rich in significance or implication; "a meaning look" [syn: meaning, pregnant, significant]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Latin significant-, significans, present participle of significare to signify Date: 1579 1. having meaning; especially suggestive <a significant glance> 2. a. having or likely to have influence or effect ; important <a significant piece of legislation>; also of a noticeably or measurably large amount <a significant number of layoffs> <producing significant profits> b. probably caused by something other than mere chance <statistically significant correlation between vitamin deficiency and disease>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 having a meaning; indicative. 2 having an unstated or secret meaning; suggestive (refused it with a significant gesture). 3 noteworthy; important; consequential (a significant figure in history). 4 Statistics of or relating to the significance in the difference between an observed and calculated result. Phrases and idioms: significant figure Math. a digit conveying information about a number containing it, and not a zero used simply to fill vacant space at the beginning or end. Derivatives: significantly adv. Etymology: L significare: see SIGNIFY

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Significant Sig*nif"i*cant, a. [L. significans, -antis, p. pr. of significare. See Signify.] 1. Fitted or designed to signify or make known somethingl having a meaning; standing as a sign or token; expressive or suggestive; as, a significant word or sound; a significant look. It was well said of Plotinus, that the stars were significant, but not efficient. --Sir W. Raleigh. 2. Deserving to be considered; important; momentous; as, a significant event. Significant figures (Arith.), the figures which remain to any number, or decimal fraction, after the ciphers at the right or left are canceled. Thus, the significant figures of 25,000, or of .0025, are 25.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Significant Sig*nif"i*cant, n. That which has significance; a sign; a token; a symbol. --Wordsworth. In dumb significants proclaim your thoughts. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A significant amount or effect is large enough to be important or affect a situation to a noticeable degree. A small but significant number of 11-year-olds are illiterate. ...foods that offer a significant amount of protein... ? insignificant ADJ: usu ADJ n • significantly The number of MPs now supporting him had increased significantly... ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj/adv/prep 2. A significant fact, event, or thing is one that is important or shows something. I think it was significant that he never knew his own father. ADJ • significantly Significantly, the company recently opened a huge store in Atlanta. ADV

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Betokening, indicative, expressive, signifying, significative. 2. Important, weighty, momentous. 3. Forcible, eminently expressive.

Moby Thesaurus

absolute, adducible, admissible, allegorical, associational, attestative, attestive, augural, authentic, based on, big, big-league, big-name, big-time, bigwig, bigwigged, certain, circumstantial, cogent, compelling, conclusive, connotational, connotative, consequential, considerable, conspicuous, convincing, critical, cumulative, damning, decisive, definable, demonstrative, denominative, denotational, denotative, designative, determinative, diagnostic, documentary, documented, double-barreled, earthshaking, eloquent, emblematic, evidence, evidential, evidentiary, ex parte, exhibitive, expressive, extended, extensional, eye-witness, factual, facund, figural, figurative, final, firsthand, forceful, forerunning, foreshadowing, foreshowing, foretokening, forewarning, founded on, full of meaning, full of point, full of substance, grand, great, grounded on, hearsay, heavy with meaning, heavyweight, high-powered, historic, identifying, ideographic, idiosyncratic, implicative, implicit, important, impressive, in the limelight, incontrovertible, index, indicating, indicative, indicatory, indisputable, individual, informative, intelligible, intensional, interpretable, intuitive, irrefutable, irresistible, major, mark, material, meaning, meaningful, meaty, meritorious, metaphorical, momentous, monitory, name, naming, notable, noteworthy, nuncupative, outstanding, overwhelming, pathognomonic, peculiar, pithy, pointed, powerful, precursive, precursory, predictive, prefigurative, pregnant, preindicative, premonitory, presageful, presaging, presumptive, probative, prognostic, prognosticative, prominent, readable, referential, relevant, reliable, representative, rich, self-important, semantic, semiotic, sententious, sign, signal, signalizing, significative, signifying, sound, substantial, substantive, suggestive, superior, sure, symbolic, symbolistic, symbological, symptom, symptomatic, symptomatologic, telling, to the front, token, transferred, typical, valid, valuable, valued, warning, weighty, world-shaking