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 lack of a prohibitive front-runner signals opportunity.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The celebrations required that one student, selected randomly, bake a cake in honor of the nation’s authoritarian ruler — a task requiring time and resources prohibitive to much of the population.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Now, as then, there is no one who even remotely resembles a prohibitive front-runner.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Cruise ship prices, too, were prohibitive for many -- up to $600, according to participating delegations -- though some rooms were set aside for poor country representatives at lower fares.

Read more on Barron's

He plants “cover crops” on otherwise bare soil to reduce erosion, retain moisture and improve yields, but only on 30% of his land because the cost is prohibitive with the export tax.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• excessive 
• exorbitant 
• preposterous 
• steep