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Definition of selective : Selecting; tending to select.

Synonyms:

beggars can't be choosers, select, choosy, exclusive, discriminative, straight, methodical, handpicked, systematic, selectively, thorough, alternate, cautious, chosen, picky, meticulous, exact, painstaking, provident, discriminate, organized, probabilistic, discriminatory, discriminating, settled, precise

judicious, careful, scrupulous, particular

Usage examples:

• Selective breeding for the production of the best endocrine types should become practicable. - "The Glands Regulating Personality", Louis Berman, M.D..
• She looked out upon a broad and level lawn, smoothed by the care of centuries, flanked on either side by groups of old trees- some Scotch firs, some beeches, a cedar or two- groups where the slow selective hand of time had been at work for generations, developing here the delightful roundness of quiet mass and shade, and there the bold caprice of bare fir trunks and ragged branches, standing black against the sky. - "Marcella", Mrs. Humphry Ward.
• The first concerns the selective service act which expires next June 30th. - "Complete State of the Union Addresses from 1790 to the Present", Various.