Definition of "performative" in English

adjective

1. (philosophy, linguistics) Being enacted as it is said.

   • Saying "I do" as part of a wedding ceremony is performative, enacting a marriage.

2. Being done as a performance in order to create an impression.

   • We were beginning to suspect that her ethical qualms were sometimes performative, as the urgent need for fairness and justice seemed to apply to some people but not to others.

noun

1. A performative utterance.