restrictive

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle French restrictif.

Morphologically restrict +‎ -ive.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ɹɪˈstɹɪktɪv/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪktɪv

Adjective[edit]

restrictive (comparative more restrictive, superlative most restrictive)

  1. Confining, limiting, containing within defined bounds.
    • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 [], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 168:
      The help tended to be officious, the rules, if heeded, restrictive, and the management meddlesome.
    • 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide[1], page 7:
      The pinnacle of the effort to fix restrictive meanings to a set of terminology can be found in two papers in American Speech by Feinsilver (1979, 1980).
  2. (Of clothing) limiting free and easy bodily movement.

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

restrictive (plural restrictives)

  1. (grammar) A clause that narrows the meaning of a noun or noun phrase.
    • 2013, Noel Burton-Roberts, Analysing Sentences, page 210:
      [] a couple of further differences between restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses: (1) in contrast with restrictives, the wh-phrase in non-restrictives cannot be ellipted; []

French[edit]

Adjective[edit]

restrictive

  1. feminine singular of restrictif