Word.ws English Dictionary

preëmptive

/pɹiːˈɛmp.tɪv/

preëmptive is the rare spelling of preemptive.

Meaning of preemptive

Adjective

preemptive (comparative more preemptive, superlative most preemptive)

  1. Made so as to deter an anticipated unpleasant situation.
    • a preemptive attack on the enemy
    Synonyms:
    preemptory
  2. Intended to interfere with an opponent's bidding.
    Synonyms:
    preemptory

Forms of preëmptive

comparativemore preëmptive
superlativemost preëmptive

Origin of preëmptive

From preëmpt + -ive.

Questions about preëmptive

What is preëmptive the rare spelling of?
Preëmptive is the rare spelling of preemptive.
How do you pronounce preëmptive?
Preëmptive is pronounced /pɹiːˈɛmp.tɪv/.

Words near preëmptive in the dictionary

  1. preëmpting
  2. preëmption
  3. preëmptioner
  4. preëmptioners
  5. preëmptions
  6. preëmptive
  7. preëmptively
  8. preëmptor
  9. preëmptors
  10. preëmptory
  11. preëmpts

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: preëmptive (page history and authors); preemptive (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-preemptive.ogg.

Cite this entry: “preëmptive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pre%C3%ABmptive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.