having an important and lasting influence on the development of something or of somebody’s character (对某事物或性格的发展)有持续重大影响的 the formative years of childhood 童年性格形成的时期 formative influences in the development of the labour movement 劳工运动发展中的形成性影响
Oxford Collocations DictionaryFormative is used with these nouns:- experience
- influence
- period
- …
Word Originlate 15th cent.: from Old French formatif, -ive or medieval Latin formativus, from Latin formare ‘to form’, based on Latin forma ‘a mould or form’.