Prohibitive Meaning
/pɹəˈhɪbɪtɪv/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjTending to prohibit, preclude, or disallow.
adjRequiring an unreasonable or impractical effort.
Sentence Examples
If you are not careful, you will incur prohibitive expenses.
The cost was prohibitive.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The cost of the concert tickets was so ____ that few people could buy them.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The cost of renting in the city center was ____ for most young professionals starting their careers.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English prohibitif, prohibityve, from Medieval Latin prohibitīvus, from prohibit-, past-participle stem of Latin prohibēre. By surface analysis, prohibit + -ive.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The economics of rebuilding all the stations covered by the electrification would be prohibitive, but to help bring home to the Glasgow public that their North Clyde suburban service has been transformed, not merely re-equipped with new trains, stations have at least been associated psychologically with the rolling stock by a common colour scheme."
— 1960 December, “The Glasgow Suburban Electrification is opened”, in Trains Illustrated, page 714:
"Hendy has come out as something of an evangelist for discontinuous electrification. For Waterloo-Exeter, this could make real sense on a route where the high capital cost of wiring or third rail all the way to Devon would be prohibitive. But what about his vocal support for it on East West Rail, which is effectively a brand new line?"
— 2025 February 19, Paul Clifton, “I am absolutely committed to reforming the railway”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 41:
"“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."
— 2017 July 23, Olivia Beavers, “GOP consultant:Kid Rock would be prohibitive favorite if he enters Michigan Senate race.”, in The Hill, 2020 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., archived from the original on 24 Jul 2017:
"[B]ut the math says Joe is our prohibitive nominee, we need to bring the party together[.]"
— 2020, 00:00:20 from the start, in Andrew Yang endorses Joe Biden, and delivers message to Bernie Sanders supporters, CNN, published 2020, archived from the original on 15 Mar 2020:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The cost of the concert tickets was so ____ that few people could buy them.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The cost of renting in the city center was ____ for most young professionals starting their careers.