prohibitive

Also pro·hib·i·to·ry

[proh-hib-i-tiv]

adjective

1. serving or tending to prohibit or forbid something.

   We will discuss some of the discriminatory, prohibitive legislation that was undone by the Civil Rights Act.

2. sufficing to prevent the use, purchase, etc., of something.

   prohibitive prices.

3. having so great a likelihood of success that others vying for the same thing are essentially prevented from succeeding.

   Political analysts are largely in agreement over who the party’s prohibitive nominee is.

prohibitive

/ -trɪ, prəˈhɪbɪtɪv, prəˈhɪbɪtərɪ /

adjective

1. prohibiting or tending to prohibit

2. (esp of prices) tending or designed to discourage sale or purchase

Other Word Forms

• prohibitively adverb
• prohibitiveness noun
• nonprohibitive adjective
• nonprohibitively adverb
• unprohibitive adjective
• unprohibitively adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of prohibitive¹

First recorded in 1400–50; from Medieval Latin prohibitīvus; prohibit, -ive

Example Sentences

The cost for fans can be prohibitive, which means schools need to take that into account when agreeing to play a game at SoFi.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Before Starlink, you could spend hundreds of thousands in a month and still not have very good data. The costs were prohibitive.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Deschamps added: "It's not prohibitive; it depends more on his sensitivity regarding his ankle."

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The council also said the capital cost of reinstating the school buildings and the funding per pupil, which is the highest in Pembrokeshire, were prohibitive.

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"Borders are not prohibitive for them at all. They will exploit any vulnerability," she said.

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Related Words

• excessive 
• exorbitant 
• preposterous 
• steep