determined vs. determinate (adj.)? [closed]

What is the difference between the adjectival usages of "determined" and "determinate"? Are they interchangeable when used as adjectives?

Solution 1:

If you have looked up these two words in a dictionary, you will have noticed that determined mostly applies to people while determinate is an adjective used primarily to describe nonliving entities such as processes, places, et cetera.

So, if a person is determined to do something, they are hell bent on doing it. If a thing is determinate, that means it is definitive or categorical in a certain way.

Example #1:

— This type of work requires strength of character and a lot of determination. Not everybody can do it. How determined are you to do this job?
— Very determined!

Example #2:

Physics has shown that our universe has a determinate amount of energy. This amount can't be increased nor decreased. It always stays the same.