- 1representative (of somebody/something) typical of a particular group of people Is a questionnaire answered by 500 people truly representative of the population as a whole? The skinny models in magazines are not representative of most women. opposite unrepresentative
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- 2[usually before noun] containing or including examples of all the different types of people or things in a large group a representative sample of teachers opposite unrepresentative
- 3representative (of something) able to be used as a typical example of something The painting is not representative of his work of the period. opposite unrepresentative
- 4(of a system of government, etc.) consisting of people who have been chosen to speak or vote on behalf of the rest of a group a representative democracy
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