prohibitive
/pɹəˈhɪbɪtɪv/ adjective, noun
Forms prohibitives
- adjective Tending to prohibit, preclude, or disallow. “Some countries are more prohibitive than others when it comes to hot topics like euthanasia and cloning.”
- adjective Requiring an unreasonable or impractical effort.
- adjective Costly to the extreme; beyond budget. “I'd like to visit Europe someday, but the cost is prohibitive right now.”
- adjective (US) Being the presumptive or likely winner of a contest.
- noun (grammar) A negative imperative.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English prohibitif, prohibityve, from Medieval Latin prohibitīvus, from prohibit-, past-participle stem of Latin prohibēre. By surface analysis, prohibit + -ive.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective That prohibits; prohibitory; as, a tax whose effect is prohibitive.
Etymology [Cf. F. prohibitif.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “prohibitive”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details