prescriptive

adjective

pre·​scrip·​tive pri-ˈskrip-tiv 

1

: serving to prescribe

prescriptive rules of usage

2

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

prescriptively adverb

Synonyms of prescriptive

• traditional
• customary
• conventional

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 on the Web

Having cumbersome, highly prescriptive zoning rules that say that housing must go here and manufacturing there and retail there doesn’t make for a better city. —Bradley Tusk, New York Daily News, 18 Jan. 2026

Vendors that invest in implementation frameworks, reference architectures, prescriptive guidance and industry-specific templates will accelerate customer time-to-value and scale. —Melody Brue, Forbes.com, 16 Jan. 2026

Overly prescriptive solutions to legitimate problems often lead to unintended consequences that require yet more responses by policymakers. —The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 11 Jan. 2026

Public decisions were dictated in advance by prescriptive rules, or had to be proved in public processes to be objectively correct. —Philip K. Howard, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1663, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for prescriptive

• ascriptive
• descriptive

Legal Definition

prescriptive

adjective

pre·​scrip·​tive pri-ˈskrip-tiv 

1

: serving to prescribe

prescriptive rules

2

: acquired by, founded on, or constituting prescription

a prescriptive right

a longer prescriptive period