regulatory

regulatory — adjective

1. relating to the system of rules, laws, and official controls that governments or

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

relating to the system of rules, laws, and official controls that governments or authorities create to manage how businesses, industries, or activities are run

Example

Regulatory rules require banks to keep enough cash available for their customers.

collocation: regulatory rules / regulatory requirements

Jiwoo's company hired a lawyer to help them understand the regulatory changes in their industry.

Common collocations
  • regulatory agency / body / authority
  • regulatory framework / system
  • regulatory requirements / standards / rules
  • regulatory approval / clearance
  • regulatory compliance
  • regulatory oversight / reform
Synonyms
  • governmental

    broader — describes anything related to government, not specifically rule-making

  • supervisory

    focuses on monitoring and oversight rather than creating rules

  • official

    less technical; describes anything formally approved by an authority

  • legislative

    refers to the making of laws by parliament, whereas regulatory concerns rules made by agencies under those laws

Antonyms
  • deregulatory

    relating to the removal of rules and controls

  • unregulated

    describes an activity or industry with no rules or controls

Grammar Patterns

regulatory + noun (agency/body/framework/requirement)

Usage Note

Almost always used before a noun (attributive position). Common noun partners include 'agency', 'body', 'authority', 'framework', 'requirement', 'standard', 'approval', and 'compliance'.

Common Mistakes

The company follows regular standards set by the industry.
The company follows regulatory standards set by the industry.
'regular' means usual or ordinary; 'regulatory' means relating to rules and controls.
The regulatory of food safety is important.
Food safety regulation is important.
'regulatory' is an adjective, not a noun; use 'regulation' when a noun is needed.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Governmental is the broadest of these — it covers anything related to government, not just rule-making. Supervisory focuses on watching over activities, while regulatory specifically involves setting and enforcing the rules first. Official refers to anything formally approved by an authority; a document can be official without being regulatory. Legislative relates to the creation of laws by a parliament, whereas regulatory concerns the detailed rules that government agencies develop to implement those laws. For example, 'a governmental report on healthcare' describes a report by any government office, but 'a regulatory report on healthcare' is one that checks whether providers follow the relevant rules and standards.

governmental ↗supervisory ↗official ↗legislative ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • regulatory body
  • regulatory framework
  • regulatory requirements

Prepositions

  • under regulatory [control/review]
  • for regulatory [purposes/reasons]

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

From Latin 'regula' meaning 'rule', combined with the adjective suffix '-tory' (meaning 'relating to'). It entered English through French 'régulatoire' and Latin 'regulatorius'. The word became common in the 20th century as governments created more agencies to oversee business and industry.