What does prohibitory mean?
Prohibitory is a formal adjective meaning that its subject is intended to forbid or prevent an action. The word is especially associated with legal language, including prohibitory injunctions and orders that require people to stop doing something or prevent them from beginning it. In broader use, it can describe any rule, regulation, or measure whose purpose is prohibition. Prohibitory should not be confused with prohibitive: a prohibitory measure formally prevents conduct, while a prohibitive influence is often an obstacle, such as an excessive cost, that makes an action impractical. The word is most appropriate in formal or professional writing and is less common in everyday conversation.
adjectiveProhibitory means serving to prohibit or forbid something. It is especially used in legal and formal contexts to describe an order, injunction, or rule that prevents an action.
- Serving to prohibit, forbid, or prevent an action, especially by law or official authority.
"The court issued a prohibitory injunction preventing the company from releasing the disputed data."
"The regulation is prohibitory and forbids the sale of the product to minors."
"The judge granted a prohibitory order that prevented the defendants from entering the property."
A prohibitory injunction does not merely warn someone to stop; it is a legal order requiring a specific forbidden action to cease.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does prohibitory come from?
Prohibitory was formed in English from the Latin root of prohibit, ultimately Latin prohibere, meaning “to forbid” or “to prevent.” The formation uses the suffix -ory, which contributes the sense of serving to prohibit or having the function of prohibition. Its development reflects the long-established English family of prohibition, prohibitive, and prohibited, all based on the same Latin verbal root.
Related word forms
How prohibitory is actually used
Prohibitory is formal and especially common in legal, governmental, and regulatory contexts. In general usage, prohibitive is often more natural when describing an excessive cost or obstacle rather than a formal prohibition.
Easily confused with prohibitory
Prohibitory describes something that formally forbids an action, whereas prohibitive more often describes a cost or obstacle so great that it discourages an action.
Prohibition is normally a noun meaning a rule or act that forbids something, while prohibitory is an adjective describing a prohibition or the means of enforcing one.