preventive

[ pri-ven-tiv ]

/ prɪˈvɛn tɪv /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR preventive ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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

serving to prevent or hinder: preventive measures.

noun

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

a preventive agent or measure.

RELATED WORDS

precautionary, defensive, protective

Nearby words

Also pre·vent·a·tive

[pri-ven-tuh-tiv] /prɪˈvɛn tə tɪv/ (for defs 2, 4).

Origin of preventive

First recorded in 1630–40; prevent + -ive

Related forms

pre·ven·tive·ly, adverbpre·ven·tive·ness, nounnon·pre·ven·tive, adjectivenon·pre·ven·tive·ly, adverb

non·pre·ven·tive·ness, nounun·pre·vent·a·tive, adjectiveun·pre·ven·tive, adjectiveun·pre·ven·tive·ly, adverbun·pre·ven·tive·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for preventive

Migraine drugs fall into two categories: preventive and abortive.
How to Destroy Your Headaches|Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD, Tej Azad|June 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Now, preventive protocols—like mammograms, colonoscopies, and Prostate-Specific Antigen tests—are being questioned.
Clinton Doc: This Is How We’ll Fix Health Care|Daniela Drake|June 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Our current preventive routine focuses on treating such cardiac risk factors as hypertension and cholesterol.
Doctors Should Start Advocating Dietary Options to Treat Heart Disease|Daniela Drake|July 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Already, the law has provided 54 million Americans free access to preventive services like check-ups and mammograms.
The GOP Is Terrified Obamacare Could Be a Success|Jon Favreau|July 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST

By that he means solitary confinement is intended to be preventive, not punitive.
Extreme Solitary Confinement: What Did Bradley Manning Experience?|Caitlin Dickson|June 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Preventive medicine has achieved no other work comparing in magnitude and importance with the extinction of the plague in Europe.
A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I|Various
The law of limitation, as has been already said, in as far as it is moral and preventive, we have under our own control.
Harmonies of Political Economy|Frdric Bastiat
I have found that keeping the soil around the plant well covered with coal ashes is a preventive.
A Woman's Hardy Garden|Helena Rutherfurd Ely
The preventive uses of astrology have seldom been seriously studied outside of India.
Autobiography of a YOGI|Paramhansa Yogananda
Fishing vessels carry supplies of the beverage on long voyages as a preventive of scurvy.
American Forest Trees|Henry H. Gibson

British Dictionary definitions for preventive

preventive

/ (prɪˈvɛntɪv) /

adjective

tending or intended to prevent or hinder

med

tending to prevent disease; prophylactic
of or relating to the branch of medicine concerned with prolonging life and preventing disease

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

noun

something that serves to prevent or hinder

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

another name for contraceptive

Also (except for sense 3): preventative (prɪˈvɛntətɪv)

Derived Formspreventively, adverbpreventiveness, 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

Word Origin and History for preventive

preventive

adj.

1630s, from Latin praevent-, past participle stem of praevenire (see prevent), + -ive. As a noun, from 1630s; in medical use from 1670s.

Medicine definitions for preventive

preventive

[ prĭ-vĕn′tĭv ]

adj.

Preventing or slowing the course of an illness or disease; prophylactic.

n.

A preventive agent or treatment.