Dictionary Definition
preventive adj
1 preventing or contributing to the prevention of
disease; "preventive medicine"; "vaccines are prophylactic"; "a
prophylactic drug" [syn: preventative, prophylactic]
2 tending to prevent or hinder [syn: preventative] [ant:
permissive]
3 tending to ward off; "the swastika...a very
ancient prophylactic symbol occurring among all peoples"- Victor
Schultze [syn: cautionary, prophylactic]
Noun
1 remedy that prevents or slows the course of an
illness or disease; "the doctor recommended several preventatives"
[syn: preventative,
prophylactic]
2 any obstruction that impedes or is burdensome
[syn: hindrance,
hitch, preventative, encumbrance, incumbrance, interference]
3 an agent or device intended to prevent
conception [syn: contraceptive, preventative, contraceptive
device, prophylactic
device, birth
control device]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Adjective
- Preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to.
- Carried out to deter military aggression.
- Slowing the development of an illness; prophylactic.
Translations
preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle
to
- German: vorbeugend, präventiv
carried out to deter military aggression
- German: präventiv
slowing the development of an illness
- German: vorbeugend, präventiv
Noun
- A thing that prevents, hinders, or acts as an obstacle to.
- A thing that slows the development of an illness.
- A contraceptive, especially a condom.
Usage notes
- Preventive is in all senses synonymous with preventative. Many speakers prefer to use preventive in adjective senses and preventative in noun senses.http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/nonerrors.html#preventive
Italian
Adjective
preventive- Feminine plural form of preventivo
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
aegis,
antacid, anticipative, anticipatory, antidote, arm guard, backstop, barrier, block, buffer, bulwark, bumper, contraceptive, copyright, counteractant, counteractive, counteragent, counterirritant,
countermeasure,
covering, crash helmet,
curb, cushion, custodial, dashboard, defensive, deterrent, deterring, discouraging, dodger, ethnocentric, exceptional, excluding, exclusive, exclusory, face mask, fender, finger guard, foot guard,
forbidding, forestalling, fostering, fuse, goggles, governor, guard, guardian, guarding, guardrail, hampering, hand guard,
handrail, hard hat,
helmet, hindering, hindrance, immunizing, impediment, impeding, inadmissible, inhibiting, inhibition, inhibitive, inhibitory, inoculant, inoculum, insular, insulation, interdictive, interdictory, interlock, knee guard, knuckle
guard, laminated glass, life preserver, lifeline, lightning conductor,
lightning rod, mask,
mudguard, narrow, neutralizer, nose guard,
nullifier, obstacle, obstruction, offset, pad, padding, palladium, parental, parochial, patent, pilot, precautionary, preclusive, prescriptive, preventative, prevention, prohibiting, prohibitive, prohibitory, prophylactic, proscriptive, protecting, protection, protective, protective
clothing, protective umbrella, remedy, repressive, restraining, restrictive, safeguard, safeguarding, safety, safety glass, safety
plug, safety rail, safety shoes, safety switch, safety valve,
screen, screening, seat belt, seclusive, segregative, select, selective, separative, serum, sheltering, shield, shielding, shin guard,
snobbish, sun helmet,
suppressive,
tutelary, umbrella, vaccine, vigilant, watchful, windscreen, windshield, xenophobic