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
prescriptively
adverbPeople Are Reading
Examples of prescriptive in a Sentence
Critics claim the new rules are too prescriptive.
even in this age of e-mail the prescriptive response to a wedding gift is a handwritten thank-you note
Recent Examples of prescriptive from the Web
-
Though porn GIFs on Tumblr are less prescriptive, there’s something inspiring about how Holly uses them to accompany practical female masturbation tips.
-
Where No Child garnered criticism for being punitive and prescriptive, the new law shifts the most control over schools to states.
-
One of the brands credited with breaking down those strict prescriptive hierarchies and setting up a different sort of future for the logo in the digital age is Nike.
-
While competency laws exist for juveniles suffering from mental illness, there are no clear, prescriptive guidelines for juveniles on the delivery and duration of services like those that exist in the adult system.
-
In Zathura, was the game supposed to be predictive or prescriptive?
-
Green roofs should not be mandated by a highly prescriptive law, as supporters of the ballot measure are proposing.
-
But thanks to the Sequoia, Nichols thinks their research could go beyond just modeling into prescriptive design — in other words, figuring out what the optimum design would be.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'prescriptive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of prescriptive
1663
PRESCRIPTIVE Defined for English Language Learners
prescriptive
playDefinition of prescriptive for English Language Learners
-
: giving exact rules, directions, or instructions about how you should do something
-
: providing rules and opinions that tell people how language should be used
Law Dictionary
prescriptive
playLegal Definition of prescriptive
1 : serving to prescribe prescriptive rules
2 : acquired by, founded on, or constituting prescription a prescriptive right a longer prescriptive period
Learn More about prescriptive
-
See words that rhyme with prescriptive Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for prescriptive Britannica English: Translation of prescriptive for Arabic speakers
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up prescriptive? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Writing? Check your grammar now!