Derivative Derivative means based on something else, or lacking originality. Derivative is almost always used in a derogatory way. People who do creative work of any kind usually do not want their creation or product viewed as derivative. Since the 1970's influences were easy to hear in Kravitz' music, he immediately was slapped with a derivative tag. Things have gotten better, but critics still don't really embrace him.
Cars can be derivative, too.
Even an Audi will fire the engines of automotive desire. The fantasy adventure, based on the popular role-playing game introduced in 1974, is the most laughably bad film since Battlefield Earth . . . . The dull, derivative story draws heavily from the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings trilogies. In the fall season now bedecking Broadway, two more big-ticket examples demonstrate how these things work. And how they don't.