Descriptive
Descriptive adjective - Describing the structure of a language.
Usage example: descriptive grammar
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Synonyms for Descriptive
Prescriptive is an antonym for descriptive.
Prescriptive
Prescriptive adjective - Pertaining to giving directives or rules.
Usage example: prescriptive grammar is concerned with norms of or rules for correct usage
Descriptive is an antonym for prescriptive.
Both words in one sentence
- A linguist probably also won't tell you how to use your language 'correctly' - there is a distinction between descriptive and prescriptive linguistics, but the former is by far the prevailing attitude today.
Source: Useful Notes / Linguistics - In fact there is no such thing as objectively correct usagenote True, as far as it goes, but there is a recognized difference between descriptive and prescriptive linguistics with widely differing aims.
Source: Artistic License Linguistics -
But that was descriptive, not prescriptive, and predates hundreds of years of weapons development.
Source: No Man of Woman Born
Cite this Source
Prescriptive and Descriptive. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 14, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/descriptive/prescriptive
Descriptive & Prescriptive. N.p., 2016. Web. 14 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/descriptive/prescriptive>.
Prescriptive or Descriptive. 2016. Accessed August 14, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/descriptive/prescriptive.
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