prescriptive
Syllables: pre·scrip·tive/pɹəˈskɹɪptɪv/
prescriptive adjective: of or pertaining to prescribing or enjoining, especially an action or behavior based on a norm or standard.
Adjective
prescriptive (comparative more prescriptive, superlative most prescriptive)
- Of or pertaining to prescribing or enjoining, especially an action or behavior based on a norm or standard.
- For one thing, spoken language tends to be less subjected to prescriptive
pressures than written language, and hence is a less artificial medium of com-
munication (written language is often a kind of 'censored' version of spoken
language). [...]1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational Grammar, Cambridge: University Press, →ISBN, page 8
- Synonyms:
- normative
- Antonyms:
- descriptive, proscriptive, nonprescriptive
- For one thing, spoken language tends to be less subjected to prescriptive
prescriptive meaning in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada
prescriptive in Tamil
- முறைப்படி, வழி முறைப்படி
prescriptive in Malayalam
- authoritarian, dictatorial, narrow
- അനുശാസനാത്മകമായ, നിർദ്ദേശകമായ, അനുശാസിക്കുന്ന, ആജ്ഞാരൂപത്തിലുള്ള, ഇടുങ്ങിയ, കർക്കശമായ
prescriptive in Kannada
- ಆದೇಶ ಮಾಡುವ, ಕಟ್ಟಳೆ ಮಾಡುವ, ವಿಧಿಸುವ, ಬೆಸಸುವ
Examples of prescriptive in a sentence
- In prescriptive ideal, writers will optimize their usage.
- Usually, the high-risk health-based or safety-based arenas yield prescriptive rather than subscriptive specification and requirements.
- In modern standard languages, norms of usage often seem to be superimposed by prescriptive norms.
Synonyms of prescriptive
Antonyms
Forms of prescriptive
| comparative | more prescriptive |
|---|---|
| superlative | most prescriptive |
| alternative form | præscriptive |
| alternative form | praescriptive |
Origin of prescriptive
From Latin praescriptivus (“relating to a legal exception”), from praescript- (“directed in writing”), from the verb praescribere.
Words formed from prescriptive
- prescriptive ethics
- prescriptive grammar
- prescriptively
- prescriptiveness
- prescriptivism
- prescriptivist
- prescriptivistic
- prescriptivity
- unprescriptive
Questions about prescriptive
- What does prescriptive mean?
- Prescriptive means of or pertaining to prescribing or enjoining, especially an action or behavior based on a norm or standard.
- What is prescriptive in Tamil?
- Prescriptive in Tamil is முறைப்படி, வழி முறைப்படி. See Prescriptive meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is prescriptive?
- Prescriptive is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce prescriptive?
- Prescriptive is pronounced /pɹəˈskɹɪptɪv/.
Words near prescriptive in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: prescriptive (page history and authors); prescriptive (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prescriptive (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); prescriptive (Kannada Wiktionary) (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-prescriptive.ogg.
Cite this entry: “prescriptive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/prescriptive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.