prohibitively
adverb
prohibitively is spelled P-R-O-H-I-B-I-T-I-V-E-L-Y: 13 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,947th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, prohibitively means “In a prohibitive manner” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in prohibitively?
| Letters | 13: P-R-O-H-I-B-I-T-I-V-E-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,947th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is prohibitively?
Prohibitively appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,947th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce prohibitively?
Prohibitively has 5 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-prohibitively.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of prohibitively
- more prohibitively comparative
- most prohibitively superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prohibitively mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In a prohibitive manner.
- 2
To a prohibitive extent.
a prohibitively expensive gift
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Prohibitively in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Translations:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | prohibitivamente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does prohibitively come from?
From prohibitive + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).