preëmptive

/pɹiːˈɛmp.tɪv/

A form of preemptive — Made so as to deter an anticipated unpleasant situation.

Meanings

adjectivepreëmptive (comparative more preëmptive, superlative most preëmptive)

comparative more preëmptive · superlative most preëmptive

  1. rareRare spelling of preemptive.

    2002, The New Yorker Online Only, Conversation: The Next War, at this site Once the doctrine of preëmptive war is out there, then, first India, clearly, but many other people, could say that this is ideal, thank you. All these conditions are met.

    2 more examples

    The object of this company in taking their conveyance from the Indians in the form of a lease was to evade the preëmptive right.

    1904, Buffalo Historical Society (Buffalo, N.Y.), Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society, p289

    But this fails to meet the objection that if a considerable number of shareholders were thus compelled to go into the public market to buy enough shares to maintain their proportionate interest, they would probably have to pay an excessive price — a price at all events greater than would attach to the exercise of their preëmptive right.

    2003, William Z. Ripley, Main Street and Wall Street 1929, page 43

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

preëmptive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pre%C3%ABmptive

MLA

“preëmptive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pre%C3%ABmptive. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preëmptive,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pre%C3%ABmptive.

Source: preëmptive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.