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

No road closures are scheduled, but high traffic volume, motorcades, special vehicles and thousands of pedestrians milling about downtown will be just as prohibitive. —Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 15 June 2026

Still, the antibody treatment and other measles drugs could be cost-prohibitive. —Justin Klawans, TheWeek, 15 June 2026

The logistics of large drone fleets is complex and often cost-prohibitive. —Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 11 June 2026

Huang acknowledged that the fee could be prohibitive for some, especially if their employer isn’t covering it. —Jacqueline Munis, Fortune, 10 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for prohibitive

• inhibitive

Kids Definition

prohibitive

adjective

pro·​hib·​i·​tive prō-ˈhib-ət-iv 

: likely to discourage use or purchase

prohibitive prices

prohibitively adverb