Giving help, kindness and encouragement to someone who is going through something hard. The word approves of the person it describes — calling someone supportive is always praise. "My family was very supportive when I was ill." "a supportive teacher", "a supportive environment". Notice what kind of help it means. Supportive help is mostly emotional: listening, encouraging, standing beside someone, making them feel they are not alone. It can include practical help too, but the heart of the word is being there. That is why we say a supportive friend rather than a helpful friend when someone got us through a bad time — helpful sounds like they carried a box for you. The pattern to learn is be supportive of someone or something: "She was very supportive of my decision." You can also be supportive without any object at all: "Everyone at work has been so supportive." There is a second, plainer meaning in technical use: holding something up physically or providing a base for it — supportive footwear, a supportive mattress, a supportive role in a structure. Here there is no praise or emotion, just physical support. Health writing also speaks of supportive care, meaning treatment that keeps a patient comfortable rather than curing the illness. One caution about tone: because supportive is such a warm word, people sometimes use it to soften a refusal — "I'm supportive of the idea, but…" often means they are not going to help much at all.

支持的、給予鼓勵的（多指情感上的支持與陪伴，帶讚許意味）。另有具體意思：有支撐力的，如 supportive shoes 有支撐力的鞋。