Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - prospective

1. You use prospective to describe someone who wants to be the thing mentioned or who is likely to be the thing mentioned. The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers... When his prospective employers learned that he smoked, they said they wouldn’t hire him. = would-be ADJ: ADJ n 2. You use prospective to describe something that is likely to happen soon. ...the terms of the prospective deal. ADJ: ADJ n