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