prescriptive

[pri-skrip-tiv]

adjective

1. that prescribes; giving directions or injunctions.

   a prescriptive letter from an anxious father.

2. depending on or arising from effective legal prescription, as a right or title established by a long unchallenged tenure.

prescriptive

/ prɪˈskrɪptɪv /

adjective

1. making or giving directions, rules, or injunctions

2. sanctioned by long-standing usage or custom

3. derived from or based upon legal prescription

   a prescriptive title

Other Word Forms

• prescriptively adverb
• prescriptiveness noun
• nonprescriptive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of prescriptive¹

First recorded in 1740–50; prescript + -ive, modeled on descriptive, destructive, etc.

Example Sentences

Players are encouraged to take responsibility rather than adhere to the prescriptive discipline of Erik ten Hag's time.

From BBC

This is a contrast to the prescriptive approach of Erik ten Hag, who punished players if they were late for meetings.

From BBC

The agency, asserting that such rules are “unnecessarily prescriptive,” proposes to give employers “greater flexibility in the respirators they select for exposed workers.”

From Los Angeles Times

“There was no prescriptive timeline to the course that it took,” explains Romanski.

From Los Angeles Times

Matt feels it's easier for men his height to meet people offline, explaining that meeting someone in person, through mutual friends, for example, can mean a less prescriptive approach.

From BBC