Normative

//ˈnɔː.mə.tɪv// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A regulation imposed to preserve a norm.

    "Most important are the so-called economic normatives. They either specify the minimal efficiency of productive resources utilization or regulate the distribution of the enterprises revenue."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to a norm or standard.
  2. 2
    Conforming to a norm or norms.

    "normative behaviour"

  3. 3
    Attempting to establish or prescribe a norm.

    "normative grammar"

Adjective
  1. 1
    pertaining to giving directives or rules wordnet
  2. 2
    relating to or dealing with norms wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
prescriptiveaccording to hoyleaccustomedappropriateaveragecommon

Example

More examples

"The stories in this book are not meant to be normative; they represent a small sampling of the myriad unique experiences that exist."

Etymology

From Latin norma + -ative. Compare French normatif.

Related phrases

normative economicsnormative ethicsnormative forecastingnormative grammarnormative sciencenormative statenormative statementnormative system

More for "normative"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.