Meaningful means having real significance or purpose. It counts for something, rather than just filling space.
It attaches to relationships, work, change and dialogue, and in each case it is claiming that the thing is not merely going through the motions. Politics uses it so heavily that it has worn thin, since meaningful reform and meaningful consultation are exactly what people promise when neither is happening. There is a precise sense too, and a meaningful look is one that carries a message without words. Its opposite is meaningless.
1adjectivemeaningfulHaving real significance or purpose.
“She wanted meaningful work rather than a big salary.”
2adjectivecarryingCarrying an unspoken message.
“He gave her a meaningful glance across the table.”
From meaning + -ful.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Man Called Ove
First appears in chapter 9 of A Man Called Ove.
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