prohibitive

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

prohibitive

/pɹəˈhɪbɪtɪv/

Where it comes from

From Middle English prohibitif, prohibityve, from Medieval Latin prohibitīvus, from prohibit-, past-participle stem of Latin prohibēre. By surface analysis, prohibit + -ive.

adjective more prohibitive · most prohibitive

Tending to prohibit, preclude, or disallow. Some countries are more prohibitive than others when it comes to hot topics like euthanasia and cloning.
Requiring an unreasonable or impractical effort.
Costly to the extreme; beyond budget. I'd like to visit Europe someday, but the cost is prohibitive right now.
Similar: extortionate
US Being the presumptive or likely winner of a contest. “I think there’s no question about that. I think he’s the prohibitive favorite if he gets in,” Dennis Lennox, a Michigan-based Republican political consultant, told Politico.

noun prohibitives

A negative imperative.

Translations

Every language

adj tending to prohibit, preclude or disallow

Español	prohibitivo
Français	prohibitif
Deutsch	verhindernd, verbietend, prohibitorisch, untersagend, unterbindend, ausschließend

adj unreasonably costly

Español	prohibitivo
Português	proibitivo
Français	prohibitif
Deutsch	untragbar, unverhältnismäßig, unbezahlbar, unerschwinglich, unerträglich, prohibitiv
Italiano	proibitivo
Русский	непомерно высокий nepomerno vysokij, запретительный zapretitelʹnyj

noun negative imperative

Français	défense
العربية	نَهْي nahy

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"prohibitive." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/prohibitive. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

prohibitive. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/prohibitive

Chicago

"prohibitive." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/prohibitive.

BibTeX

@misc{prohibitive_2026,
  title = {prohibitive},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/prohibitive},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}