restrictive
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Confining, limiting, containing within defined bounds.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
reestriktivSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹistˈɹɪktɪv
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Confining, limiting, containing within defined bounds.
Of clothing
Limiting free and easy bodily movement.
noun
grammar
A clause that narrows the meaning of a noun or noun phrase.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Confining, limiting, containing within defined bounds.
Used this way, restrictive is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use restrictive
- “Teenagers eager to escape restrictive home environments.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A subordinate clause that limits or restricts the meaning of the noun phrase it modifies.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: confining or limiting or containing within defined bounds
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.