Inventive means having the ability to create new and original ideas, or showing clever imagination in solving problems. An inventive student might figure out a creative way to remember all fifty state capitals, perhaps by making up a funny song or drawing a colorful map with memorable images. An inventive cook experiments with unusual ingredient combinations to create dishes no one has tasted before.

Being inventive is different from simply being smart or knowledgeable. You can know lots of facts without being inventive, and you can be inventive without knowing everything. What makes someone inventive is their willingness to think differently and try approaches others haven't considered. When you face a challenge and come up with a solution that makes people say, “I never would have thought of that!”, you're being inventive.

Thomas Edison was inventive when he developed the light bulb, but a child is also being inventive when they figure out how to build a taller block tower than they've ever built before. Inventive people see possibilities where others see only problems. They ask “what if?” and “why not?” instead of accepting things as they are.