1. A reference to something being incompletely developed: Constance made an abortive effort to get her acting career back on track.
2. Pertaining to the failure to end a pregnancy by removing an embryo or fetus from the womb: The surgery which Thomas, the veterinarian, performed was an abortive misfortune and did not save the unborn calf.
3. Concerning a discontinuation in the progress of a disease: The normal course of the illness was not felt because of the abortive intervention by the medical specialists.
4. Descriptive of the failure to accomplish an objective; futile; imperfectly developed: Marlene and Vincent made an abortive attempt to complete the project.