restrictive
adjective
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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.
Examples of restrictive in a Sentence
Isabel Garcia, PEOPLE, 12 Sep. 2025
But what other, more-restrictive standard could Treasury use that doesn’t risk running afoul of the statutory guidance based on a bureaucrat’s subjective judgment?
—Ben Ritz, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
The most restrictive is New Hampshire’s six-year deadline.
—Willoughby Mariano, ProPublica, 11 Sep. 2025
Nonetheless, with policy in restrictive territory, the baseline outlook and the shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting our policy stance.
—Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for restrictive
Cite this Entry
“Restrictive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/restrictive. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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restrictive
adjective
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restrictive
adjective
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