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Definition of invasive adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

invasive

adjective
 
/ɪnˈveɪsɪv/
 
/ɪnˈveɪsɪv/
(formal)
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  1. (especially of diseases within the body) spreading very quickly and difficult to stop
    • invasive cancer
    Topics Health problemsc2
  2. (of medical treatment) involving cutting into the body
    • invasive surgery
    opposite non-invasiveTopics Healthcarec2
  3. (of plants or animals) brought into an environment where they are not naturally found, and causing harm to that environment or other living things in it
    • This toad is an invasive species that has now become widespread.
    • The plant was introduced to the West Coast and is invasive in North America.
  4. affecting somebody's thoughts or privacy
    • I found the constant background noise very invasive.
    • They asked her a lot of intimate and invasive questions.
  5. see also invade
    Word Originlate Middle English: from obsolete French invasif, -ive or medieval Latin invasivus, from Latin invadere, from in- ‘into’ + vadere ‘go’.
See invasive in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee invasive in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

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