restrictive

adjective re·stric·tive \ ri-ˈstrik-tiv \

|Updated on: 1 Aug 2018

Examples: restrictive in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of restrictive

1 a : of or relating to restriction

b : serving or tending to restrict

restrictive regulations

2 : limiting the reference of a modified word or phrase

3 : prohibiting further negotiation

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restrictive

noun

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restrictively

adverb

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restrictiveness

noun

See restrictive defined for English-language learners

See restrictive defined for kids

Examples of restrictive in a Sentence

In the sentence “The book that you ordered is out of print,” “that you ordered” is a restrictive clause.

Recent Examples of restrictive from the Web

Tech lobbyists, who considered the Prodigy decision unreasonably restrictive, pushed lawmakers to adopt the CompuServe standard.

— michael fitzgerald, WIRED, "The Court Case that Enabled Today's Toxic Internet," 8 July 2018
Hudson said the current rules involving the lethal removal of sea lions at Bonneville are too restrictive.

— ryan sabalow, sacbee, "To protect salmon in the Columbia, will we have to kill more sea lions?," 6 July 2018
The policy ultimately adopted by the Police Commission is more restrictive than many other Bay Area jurisdictions.

— evan sernoffsky, SFChronicle.com, "SF police effort to get Tasers set back," 29 June 2018
The situation has been debated in the public eye in the past month, with some property owners decrying the grandfather clause, and others saying the new rules, particularly the parking requirement, are too restrictive.

— steve lord, Aurora Beacon-News, "Waiting period will stay in new Aurora property code," 27 June 2018
But these laws may be more restrictive than South Dakota’s law, and so may not hold up in court.

— alana semuels, The Atlantic, "Will a New Supreme Court’s Decision Change Online Shopping?," 21 June 2018
Both nations have been enacting increasingly restrictive, anti-immigrant policies since 2015 and have pledged further crackdowns.

— judith vonberg, CNN, "French police seize SIM cards, cut soles from shoes of child migrants, report claims," 15 June 2018
But after some playtesting, the developers realized this was too restrictive for modern players.

— andrew webster, The Verge, "Starlink is like a kid-friendly No Man’s Sky with awesome spaceship toys," 11 June 2018
The main aspects of Healthyish are: better for you, not too restrictive, and not over the top.

— aliza abarbanel, Bon Appetit, "We Didn't Write the 'Healthyish' Cookbook, But We Kinda Wish We Did," 18 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'restrictive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Restrictive covenants (that is, agreements) in real-estate deeds were once used to forbid the buyer from ever selling the property to anyone of another race. These are now illegal, though other kinds of restrictive covenants are very common; in some neighborhoods, they may even tell you what colors you can't paint your house. In grammar, a restrictive clause is one that limits the meaning of something that comes before it. In the sentence "That's the professor who I'm trying to avoid", "who I'm trying to avoid" is a restrictive clause, since it's what identifies the professor. But in the sentence "That's my History professor, who I'm trying to avoid", the same clause is nonrestrictive, since the professor has already been identified as "my History professor". There should always be a comma before a nonrestrictive clause, but not before a restrictive clause.

First Known Use of restrictive

1579

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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RESTRICTIVE Defined for English Language Learners

restrictive

adjective

Definition of restrictive for English Language Learners

: limiting or controlling someone or something
grammar of a word or group of words : giving information about a person or thing that is needed to understand which person or thing is meant