prohibitive
Americanadjective
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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.
-
sufficing to prevent the use, purchase, etc., of something.
prohibitive prices.
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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.
adjective
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prohibiting or tending to prohibit
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(esp of prices) tending or designed to discourage sale or purchase
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of prohibitive
First recorded in 1400–50; from Medieval Latin prohibitīvus; see origin at prohibit, -ive
Explanation
That expensive Ferrari in the showroom? You may want it, but its price is prohibitive — which means the price is discouragingly high and likely to deter you from buying. Prohibitive originally referred to something (often a law) that prohibits or forbids something, but it came to mean conditions (often prices or taxes) so high or great they restrict or prevent something: "To some, the cost of child care is prohibitive." The stress is on the second syllable, just like the verb: pro-HIB-i-tive. If it's a matter of expense, a synonym is exorbitant.
Vocabulary lists containing prohibitive
Outliers
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The Stars Beneath Our Feet
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Challenge, List 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Katz wrote in an email that the extra expense of around $2,000 per device were “cost prohibitive and detrimental to public safety.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
Alexander Isak and Julian Alvarez had universal support from Arsenal's recruitment team, but there was an understanding the price of both was likely to be prohibitive.
From BBC • May 19, 2026
In reality, the two are complementary: Quantum systems are expected to act as powerful supplements, tackling problems that would otherwise take prohibitive time, energy, or processing power to solve.
From Barron's • May 6, 2026
Ten years after American growers began investing in pistachios, a prohibitive anti-dumping tariff on Iranian raw in-shell pistachios was announced.
From Salon • May 6, 2026
Reluctantly, Foley, Simosi, and their teams concluded that the cost of extracting these statues would be prohibitive.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
