When you talk about substantive change, you mean change that really makes a difference. After a substantive discussion, you will have an in depth understanding of what you are talking about.

When something is substantive, there is a lot of there there, be it meaning or volume of things. The word brings a serious tone. While it is often used to talk about problems and their solutions, a big steak dinner could be called substantive as could a very long piece of writing. In any case, you use it when there is a lot of substance involved.

Definitions of substantive

adj having a firm basis in reality and being therefore important, meaningful, or considerable

basic and fundamental

adj being on topic and prompting thought

having a meaning or purpose


substantive law”
adjective, procedural

n any word or group of words functioning as a noun

show 7 types...
hide 7 types...
collective noun
mass noun
a noun that does not form plurals
count noun
a noun that forms plurals
generic noun
a noun that does not specify either masculine or feminine gender
proper name, proper noun
a noun that denotes a particular thing; usually capitalized
common noun
a noun that denotes any or all members of a class
Type of:
a unit of language that native speakers can identify