restrictive
Americanadjective
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tending or serving to restrict.
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of the nature of a restriction.
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expressing or implying restriction or limitation of application, as terms, expressions, etc.
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Grammar. limiting the meaning of a modified element.
a restrictive adjective.
adjective
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restricting or tending to restrict
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grammar denoting a relative clause or phrase that restricts the number of possible referents of its antecedent. The relative clause in Americans who live in New York is restrictive; the relative clause in Americans, who are generally extrovert , is nonrestrictive
Other Word Forms
- restrictively adverb
- restrictiveness noun
- unrestrictive adjective
- unrestrictively adverb
Etymology
Origin of restrictive
1375–1425; late Middle English < Middle French restrictif < Latin restrict ( us ) ( restrict ) + Middle French -if -ive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“There were so many guardrails and it was so restrictive,” she says, adding that she chafed at the hours, the dress and behavioral codes, and the lack of creativity.
From Los Angeles Times
When it goes up, it can be a restrictive force.
From Barron's
Goolsbee also said that with inflation running above the Fed’s goal for nearly five years, the central bank’s policy rate might not be especially restrictive in real terms, reducing the urgency to cut.
From Barron's
Goolsbee also said that with inflation running above the Fed’s goal for nearly five years, the central bank’s policy rate might not be especially restrictive in real terms, reducing the urgency to cut.
From Barron's
Inside the Fed, the mood has turned hawkish, indicating a bias toward more restrictive monetary policy.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
