prescriptive

pre·scrip·tive

adjective \pri-ˈskrip-tiv\

Definition of PRESCRIPTIVE

1

: serving to prescribe <prescriptive rules of usage>

2

: acquired by, founded on, or determined by prescription or by long-standing custom

— pre·scrip·tive·ly adverb

Examples of PRESCRIPTIVE

1. Critics claim the new rules are too prescriptive.
2. <even in this age of e-mail the prescriptive response to a wedding gift is a handwritten thank-you note>

First Known Use of PRESCRIPTIVE

1748

Related to PRESCRIPTIVE

Synonyms

classical, conventional, customary, traditional

Antonyms

nontraditional, unconventional, uncustomary, untraditional

Related Words

authentic, established, fixed, historical; common, habitual, orthodox, usual; ancestral, historic, old-time, old-world; aged, age-old, ancient, antediluvian, hoary, old, venerable; ageless, dateless, immemorial, timeless

Near Antonyms

contemporary, current, modern, modernized, new, new-age, present-day, updated, up-to-date; futuristic, high-tech (also hi-tech), hot, latest, mod, modernistic, newfangled, new-fashioned, red-hot, space-age, state-of-the-art, supermodern, ultramodern; nonconformist, nonorthodox, original, progressive, revolutionary, unorthodox, unprecedented, unusual

Rhymes with PRESCRIPTIVE

ascriptive, descriptive, inscriptive, proscriptive