normative

Saying how people should act or how things should be, rather than describing what happens.

• This is a normative claim about fairness.
• Normative grammar tells people how they should use language.
• Her argument is normative: it explains what governments ought to do.

Similar words: prescriptive

Opposites: descriptive

Common phrases: normative grammar, normative claim, normative judgment

Connected with the rules or standards used to judge things.

• The study examines the law’s normative basis.
• These normative criteria help us judge the policy.
• The debate concerns the normative framework of medical ethics.

Common phrases: normative framework, normative criteria, normative standards

Matching the behavior or standards that a group considers normal or acceptable.

• Such behavior is normative within this community.
• The survey describes normative family practices in the region.
• What seems normative in one culture may seem unusual in another.

Similar words: conforming, conventional

Opposites: nonconforming

Common phrases: normative behavior, normative practice

A rule imposed to maintain an accepted standard.

• The authority introduced a new normative.
• These normatives preserve established professional standards.
• The institution enforces each normative through regular inspections.

Similar words: regulation, rule

Common phrases: a legal normative, an institutional normative