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
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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
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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
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: giving exact rules, directions, or instructions about how you should do something
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: 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
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See words that rhyme with prescriptive Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for prescriptive Britannica English: Translation of prescriptive for Arabic speakers
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