prohibitively

adv

Etymology: Etymology tree English prohibitive Middle English -ly English -ly English prohibitively From prohibitive + -ly.

1. In a prohibitive manner.

   “Ghostlily, motherlily, manlily, beastlily are all dictionary-approved but prohibitively awkward, as is, in another way, lily-liveredly, Likylikely, though . . . […] In American English, at least, there seems to be no way to say something along these lines: “For the nine months I carried you, growing inside me, no charge,” Tammy Wynette sang motherlily.”

   “Running shops and specialist running kit barely existed before the 1970s, when Bill Bowerman, founder of Nike, simultaneously launched a concept – jogging – and a product – thick-heeled running-shoes – without which the jogger’s heel-striking action was prohibitively uncomfortable.”

2. To a prohibitive extent.

   “a prohibitively expensive gift”

   “The war years proved encouraging to North Pomfret farmers, with additional demand and higher prices for their milk. With war’s end, farmers found it possible to mechanize and expand their herds to produce more milk. Prices for milk stagnated, however, and throughout the 1950s and 1960s dairymen found that they had to expand their operations continually in order to make even more milk for less money. The final straw for North Pomfret’s farmers was the imposition of bulk-tank requirements and additional barn renovations in order to keep operating. These proved prohibitively costly and led to the last of the dairymen quitting farming.”