prescriptive.

Setting out what people should do or what rules they should follow.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• prescriptive approach
• prescriptive rules
• prescriptive grammar

On the page

The final chapter is prescriptive, offering reforms rather than describing current practice.

A prescriptive grammar may reject expressions that speakers routinely use.

Teachers found the guidance too prescriptive to fit mixed-age classes.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic. Contrasts with descriptive accounts of what people actually do. Often mildly critical when rules are rigid, but can neutrally describe recommendations. Gradable: more prescriptive; most prescriptive. Derived family (not inflections): prescription, prescribe.