prescriptive

adjective/prɪˈskrɪptɪv/

Frequency rank: #16,182 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)

Meaning

Stating rules or norms that tell people how something should be done, rather than describing how it is actually done.

Illustration for the English word “prescriptive”

Example sentence

Some teachers prefer descriptive grammar, while others take a more prescriptive approach to language use.

Synonyms & related words

More words in ranks 16,101–16,200