prohibitive

adjective

pro·​hib·​i·​tive prō-ˈhi-bə-tiv 

prə-

1

: tending to prohibit or restrain

2

: tending to preclude use or purchase

prohibitive costs

3

: almost certain to perform as predicted

a prohibitive favorite

prohibitively adverb

prohibitiveness noun

Examples of prohibitive in a Sentence

the prohibitive cost of rent

Recent Examples on the Web

Economists Kelly Cunningham, San Diego Institute for Economic Research NO: If wages can be raised to $25 per hour with only positive effects, resulting in minimum wage service workers meeting the prohibitive cost of living, why not raise it to any arbitrary amount, such as $100? —Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 May 2024

And a 20-something in Milan pointed out that young people are generally pretty good at finding their way around prohibitive laws. —Tori Latham, Robb Report, 9 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

prohibitive

adjective

pro·​hib·​i·​tive prō-ˈhib-ət-iv 

: likely to discourage use or purchase

prohibitive prices

prohibitively adverb