Pronunciations (2)
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/ɹɪˈstɹɪktɪv/
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ɹɪˈstɹɪktɪv
Adjective
Confining, limiting, containing within defined bounds.
- Examples
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The help tended to be officious, the rules, if heeded, restrictive, and the management meddlesome.
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).
More examples (1)
RDG explains: "From April 1 2026, the following tickets, Anytime, Off-Peak, Day Travelcards and most Ranger and Rover tickets, will no longer be refundable on the day they become valid for travel." It calls the £40m it thinks it loses "refund abuse", which it explains as "refunds on tickets that have been used but not scanned or endorsed, where a customer falsely states that they did not travel". I'm sure such abuse takes place (and that it's done by passengers). But RDG is taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut and punishing many millions of honest passengers by making tickets more restrictive.
limiting free and easy bodily movement.
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More examples (1)
Some of them [teenagers] who will become lesbians clearly are being hit with the same kind of garbage which we got hit with in the fifties. There's been a real resurgence of that in terms of values and double standards and music. The clothes again — we're back to high heels and restrictive little femmy outfits.
Noun
A clause that narrows the meaning of a noun or noun phrase.
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More examples (1)
[…] 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; […]
Adjective
serving to restrict
- Antonyms
- Examples
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teenagers eager to escape restrictive home environments
(of tariff) protective of national interests by restricting imports