- allowing or relating to continuous two-way transfer of information between a user and the central point of a communication system, such as a computer or television
- (of two or more persons, forces, etc) acting upon or in close relation with each other; interacting
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
in•ter•ac•tive
(in′tər ak′tiv),USA pronunciation adj.
in′ter•ac′tive•ly, adv.
- acting one upon or with the other.
- Telecommunicationsof or pertaining to a two-way system of electronic communications, as by means of television or computer:interactive communications between families using two-way cable television.
- Computing(of a computer program or system) interacting with a human user, often in a conversational way, to obtain data or commands and to give immediate results or updated information:For many years airline reservations have been handled by interactive computer systems.
- inter- + active 1825–35
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
interactive /ˌɪntərˈæktɪv/ adj
in•ter•act /ˌɪntərˈækt/USA pronunciation
v.
in•ter•ac•tive, adj.: Interactive video lets the user decide what to see on the screen.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to act upon one another: [no object]When the two chemicals interact they form a gas.[~ + with + object]One chemical interacts with the other.
in•ter•ac•tive, adj.: Interactive video lets the user decide what to see on the screen.
in•ter•act
(in′tər akt′),USA pronunciation v.i.
- to act one upon another.
- inter- + act 1740–50
'interactive' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
concurrent engineering
- interactive engineering
- interface
- Telidon
- Viewdata
- VOD
- Web 2.0
- APL
- CD-I
- circuit
- immunofluorescence
- information superhighway
- interactive fiction
- Java
- kiosk
- teleshopping
- videotex
- virtual reality
- set-top