There are so many definitions for creativity.

“Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby something new is created which has some kind of value. What counts as “new” may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs. What counts as “valuable” is similarly defined in a variety of ways.” Wikipedia

“You cannot use up creativity. The more you use the more you have.” -Maya Angelou.

Creativity is marked by the ability or power to create–to bring into existence, to invest with a new form, to produce through imaginative skill, to make or bring into existence something new. -Webster’s Dictionary.

“The emergence of a novel, relational product, growing out of the uniqueness of the individual.” -Carl Rodgers (psychologist and writer).

“The occurrence of a composition which is both new and valuable.” -Henry Miller (writer).

“The ability to make new combinations of social worth.” -John Haefele (CEO and entrepreneur).

“A special class of problem solving characterized by novelty.” -Newell, Simon, & Shaw (team of logic theorists).

“Any thinking process in which original patterns are formed and expressed.” -H. H. Fox (scientist).

“Fluency, flexibility, originality, and sometimes elaboration.” -E. Paul Torrance (educator, academic, creativity investigator).

“Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being.” -Rollo May (writer, philosopher).

“A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.” -Frank Capra (film director)

“Creative thinking involves imagining familiar things in a new light, digging below the surface to find previously undetected patterns, and finding connections among unrelated phenomena.” -Roger von Oech.

“… the ability to use different modes of thought to generate new and dynamic ideas and solutions.” -Carnevale, Gainer, Meltzer.

The National Curriculum in Action Web site (2007), which outlines The National Education Curriculum for England, defines creativity as a set of four “characteristics of creativity.”

  • Imagination. The creative process should always involve thinking or behaving imaginatively.
  • The imaginative activity must be applied to a purpose, or to achieving an objective.
  • The creative and imaginative process must generate something original.
  • The creative outcome must be of value in relation to the objective or goal.

Other related words re: creativity:
creativity creativeness, formativeness, innovation, inventiveness, originality, productivity, craftsmanship, authorship, creatorship