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prescriptive

[ pri-skrip-tiv ]
/ prɪˈskrɪp tɪv /
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adjective
that prescribes; giving directions or injunctions: a prescriptive letter from an anxious father.
depending on or arising from effective legal prescription, as a right or title established by a long unchallenged tenure.
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Origin of prescriptive

First recorded in 1740–50; prescript + -ive, modeled on descriptive, destructive, etc.

OTHER WORDS FROM prescriptive

pre·scrip·tive·ly, adverbpre·scrip·tive·ness, nounnon·pre·scrip·tive, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH prescriptive

prescriptive , proscriptive
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use prescriptive in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for prescriptive

prescriptive
/ (prɪˈskrɪptɪv) /

adjective
making or giving directions, rules, or injunctions
sanctioned by long-standing usage or custom
derived from or based upon legal prescriptiona prescriptive title

Derived forms of prescriptive

prescriptively, adverbprescriptiveness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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