prescriptivistadjective
/prɪˈskrɪp.tɪ.vɪst/specializedbelieving that there are correct and wrong ways to use language and that books about language should give rules to follow, rather than describing how language is really used:
Some teachers hold to the prescriptivist view in the debate over usage and dictionaries.
traditional prescriptivist grammars
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descriptivist adjective
prescriptivistnoun [ C ]
/prɪˈskrɪp.tɪ.vɪst/specialized language someone who believes that there are correct and wrong ways to use language and that books about language should give rules to follow, rather than describing how language is really used:
This "descriptive" approach to standard English raised the hackles of prescriptivists, who believed in established rules and a hierarchy of expression.
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descriptivist noun