Restrictive

Quick meaning: Restrictive is an adjective meaning Confining, limiting, containing within defined bounds.

Meaning

Confining, limiting, containing within defined bounds.

More Meanings

1. (Of clothing) limiting free and easy bodily movement.
2. (grammar) A clause that narrows the meaning of a noun or noun phrase.

Example Sentences

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).

[…] 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; […]

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.

Word Forms

• restrictives

Synonyms for restrictive

Depending on context, synonyms include constrictive, protective, sumptuary, suppressive, constraining, confining.

Antonyms for restrictive

Common opposites include unrestrictive.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include confining, restricting, constraining, constrictive, repressive, suppressive.

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