Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Serving, tending, or having the power to manipulate.
  • noun Any of various objects designed to be moved or arranged by hand as a means of developing motor skills or understanding abstractions, especially in mathematics.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to manipulation: as, manipulative power or skill.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Education) Any object given to children to encourage them to learn by manipulating physical objects; applied especially to solid objects of varying geometrical shape that can be fit together to form larger aggregates.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to manipulation; performed by manipulation.
  • adjective Prone to attempt to influence others by devious or subtle psychological means, in order to induce them to do what one wants.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Tending to manipulate others.
  • adjective pejorative Reaching one's goals at the expense of other people by using them.
  • noun A manipulable object designed to demonstrate a mathematical concept.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective skillful in influencing or controlling others to your own advantage

Etymologies

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Examples

  • These days, as an increasing number of adults are discovering what teenagers have long known: Texting lends itself particularly well to manipulative or, in other words, juvenile behavior.

    Why Texting Turns Us Back Into Teenagers Elizabeth Bernstein 2011

  • On the other side of the aisle, the Obama re-election campaign has quietly opened a counteroffensive against Republican-backed changes to election laws that Democrats say will suppress votes for their candidates and limit their get-out-the-vote drives, a campaign Republicans are calling manipulative.

    This Week: Europe Trembles, Cain Parries, MF Files 2011

  • "He was described as a manipulative, maybe evil guy whose team sang crazy rock songs," Groff says.

    Glee's Jonathan Groff on Jesse St. James' "Rock Scream," Shrugging Off Newsweek 2011

  • Fiction, while sometimes manipulative, is not a deception unless it is portrayed as the whole truth; not to be confused with half-truths.

    Archive 2007-03-01 2007

  • Fiction, while sometimes manipulative, is not a deception unless it is portrayed as the whole truth; not to be confused with half-truths.

    Cult of Apple - Part 2 2007

  • Clancy said Catherina Voss - whom he described as manipulative, selfish and "incredibly evil"

    unknown title 2009

  • NeNe Leakes was another loud mouth bully who picked fights with pop legend Dionne Warwick (maybe warranted), Michael's sis and singer LaToya Jackson (calling her "Casper the Ghost"), 2009 Playmate of the Year Holly Dworacyk (calling her a kiss ass), and talk show host Starr Jones (calling her manipulative).

    Joan E. Dowlin: Trump's Disappointing Celebrity Apprentice Decisions Joan E. Dowlin 2011

  • In ordinary language, an individual that tries to control a relationship is called manipulative, overbearing, or colloquially, “a control freak.”

    Process Theism Viney, Donald 2008

  • What was your interpretation of what some people have described as manipulative, selective leaking about your investigation by people close to your witnesses?

    CNN Transcript Oct 28, 2005 2005

  • Who wants to be knows as the manipulative hot bitch with a paper thin life?

    motivate-me1 Diary Entry motivate-me1 2003

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