preventive

American  

[pri-ven-tiv] / prɪˈvɛn tɪv /

Also preventative

adjective

1. Medicine/Medical. of or noting a drug, vaccine, etc., for preventing disease; prophylactic.

2. serving to prevent or hinder.

   preventive measures.

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noun

preventives plural

1. Medicine/Medical. a drug or other substance for preventing disease.

2. a preventive agent or measure.

preventive British  

/ prɪˈvɛntɪv /

adjective

1. tending or intended to prevent or hinder

2. med

   1. tending to prevent disease; prophylactic

   2. of or relating to the branch of medicine concerned with prolonging life and preventing disease

3. (in Britain) of, relating to, or belonging to the customs and excise service or the coastguard

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noun

1. something that serves to prevent or hinder

2. med any drug or agent that tends to prevent or protect against disease

3. another name for contraceptive

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonpreventiveness
  noun
• preventiveness
  noun
• unpreventiveness
  noun
• nonpreventive
  adjective
• unpreventative
  adjective
• unpreventive
  adjective
• nonpreventively
  adverb
• preventively
  adverb
• unpreventively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• preventives
  plural

Etymology

Origin of preventive

First recorded in 1630–40; prevent + -ive

Explanation

Anything preventive hinders or stops something, especially diseases. When you prevent something, you stop it from happening. Likewise, anything preventive is used to ward off a bad outcome. Wearing a warm coat is preventative: it keeps you from getting cold. Saving your money is preventive because it will keep you from the poorhouse if you lose your job. Most often, this word is used in medicine. Preventive (or preventative) measures keep you from getting sick. Stretching before a workout is preventive, because it can keep you injury-free.

Example Sentences

The study was published online in the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology at the time of its presentation.

From Science Daily • Mar. 25, 2026

She is the immediate past president of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology and the co-author of the book “Saving Women’s Hearts.”

From MarketWatch • Mar. 19, 2026

Preventive Services Task Force lowered the recommended age to begin screening to 45 in 2021.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026

Preventive Services Task Force recommends mammography every other year beginning at age 40 and continuing until age 74.

From Science Daily • Dec. 1, 2025

Preventive inoculation with an attenuated virus was introduced by W.M.W.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 "Chitral" to "Cincinnati" by Various