34 Words For Innovation

John Spacey, December 14, 2019

Innovation is non-obvious change that has unusually high value. Modern governments, businesses, schools and organizations typically use this word a great deal such that it is at risk of sounding cliche alongside similar terms such as "disruption" and "thinking outside of the box." Before the industrial revolution the concept of innovation essentially didn't exist such that English and other languages lack a diversity of vocabulary to describe this modern pursuit. Nevertheless, there are several synonyms of innovation and innovative that can be used. The following are a few examples.

Advancement	Betterment
Breakthrough	Challenge
Change	Creative
Cutting Edge	Development
Discovery	Divergent Thinking
Experimentation	Fundamental Change
Imaginative	Improvement
Ingenious	Inspired
Inventive	Leading Edge
Leap Forward	Modernization
New	Novel
Original	Progress
Radical	Rapid Change
Refinement	Revolutionary
Rise	Shift
Sophisticated	State of the Art
Transformative	Visionary

Notes

Many of the words above can be combined or extended with other words to become direct synonyms of innovation. For example, transformative change or rapid experimentation.

Overview: Words For Innovation
Type	Innovation
Definition	Non-obvious change that has unusually high value.
Status	Overused, at risk of sounding like a cliche buzzword.
Related Concepts	Cliche » Innovation »