prohibitive

adjective

pro·​hib·​i·​tive prō-ˈhi-bə-tiv 

prə-

1

: tending to prohibit or restrain

2

: tending to preclude use or purchase

prohibitive costs

3

: almost certain to perform as predicted

a prohibitive favorite

prohibitively adverb

prohibitiveness noun

Examples of prohibitive in a Sentence

the prohibitive cost of rent

Recent Examples on the Web

Structural damage has made the landmark St. Peter Church on Franklin Square unstable, and the cost of repairs would be prohibitive, church officials said Monday. —Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 25 Mar. 2025

Control of the Postal Service could offer additional ways to undermine elections, perhaps by raising the price of postage, so that the cost to the states of mailing ballots would be prohibitive, or by banning the automatic mailing of ballots to voters. —Sue Halpern, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2025

While some plaintiffs in the legal case could afford to travel out of state for care, others faced prohibitive financial barriers. —Gemma Allen, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025

Without robust public transportation systems, these distances are especially prohibitive for residents who lack reliable personal transportation. —Kristina P. Brant, The Conversation, 26 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for prohibitive

• inhibitive

Kids Definition

prohibitive

adjective

pro·​hib·​i·​tive prō-ˈhib-ət-iv 

: likely to discourage use or purchase

prohibitive prices

prohibitively adverb