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inhibitive

inhibitive

7.5
That makes something difficult to do or slow to happen
  • adjective
  • /ɪnˈhɪbɪtɪv/
translation icon : inhibidor
  • Strict regulations are often seen as inhibitive for small businesses looking to grow.

Examples

  • The base coat was a rust-inhibitive catalyzed epoxy that featured a variable recoat window.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Toward this end, we drew on two waves of nationally representative data to examine the extent to which adolescents' positive and negative (or inhibitive) attitudes and beliefs about sexual intercourse account for the effects of religiosity on coital debut.

    Academic text (2003)
  • The long waiting time was inhibitive to our ability to complete the project on schedule.

  • High costs can be inhibitive for low-income families when trying to access quality healthcare.

Synonyms

obstructive
vsinhibitive
6 6.2

Making movement or progress difficult by blocking the way

covers prevention or slowing in both physical and abstract processes
suppressive
vsinhibitive
6 7.0

Able to stop or reduce something unwanted

is a general restraining tendency not limited to suppressing negatives
inhibitory
vsinhibitive
3 7.6

Causing an action to stop or slow down

is the same meaning but used as an alternative adjective form
constrictive
vsinhibitive
1 7.1

Making people or groups have less freedom to grow

is broader, meaning any tendency to restrain or slow actions
dissuasive
vsinhibitive
  • Formal
1 8.7

Making someone less likely to do something by showing bad results

is about preventing or slowing actions generally rather than persuading people
repressive
vsinhibitive
  • Specialized
1 7.2

Causing genes to be turned off so they do not make proteins

is a general tendency to restrain or slow actions across contexts
impeding
vsinhibitive
5.7

Making movement or progress slower and more difficult

applies more generally to stopping or restraining actions and processes
hindering
vsinhibitive
5.9

Causing delay or blocking progress

focuses more on general restraint or slowing across processes

Antonyms

facilitative
  • Formal
1 6.4

Helping a process become easier

7.1

That helps something grow or get better

How Inhibitive

obstructive
6 6.2
preventive
57 3.8
inhibitory
3 7.6
inhibitive
7.5
neutral
218 3.6
encouraging
73 1.9
permissive
  • Jargon
14 4.9

Surface Forms

inhibitive positive

Morphology

inhibitive = inhibit (transparent) = inhibit + ive

The adjective is a direct derivation from the verb 'inhibit' with the adjectival suffix '-ive', meaning 'tending to inhibit'.

Etymology

Inhibitive comes from Latin parts in- and habere which mean 'to hold', so the original idea is 'to hold in' or keep something back. So, something inhibitive stops, restrains, or slows an action by 'holding it back'.