prohibitive

From Middle English prohibitif, prohibityve, from Medieval Latin prohibitīvus, from prohibit-, past-participle stem of Latin prohibēre.

• IPA^(key): /pɹəˈhɪbɪtɪv/

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prohibitive (comparative more prohibitive, superlative most prohibitive)

1. Tending to prohibit, preclude, or disallow.

   Some countries are more prohibitive than others when it comes to hot topics like euthanasia and cloning.

2. Costly to the extreme; beyond budget; requiring an unreasonable effort.

   I'd like to visit Europe someday, but the cost is prohibitive right now.

   • 1960 December, “The Glasgow Suburban Electrification is opened”, in Trains Illustrated, page 714:

     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.

3. (Of a contender in a competition): presumptive winner, likely winner.
   • 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 07/24/2017:

     “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.

   • 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 March 2020:

     [B]ut the math says Joe is our prohibitive nominee, we need to bring the party together[.]

prohibitive (plural prohibitives)

1. (grammar) A negative imperative.

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prohibitive

1. feminine singular of prohibitif