Word of the Day
Negative Prompting (Constraints)
Negative prompting tells the model what NOT to do — no jargon, no preamble, don't invent figures — to keep output on the rails.
Get it freeNegative prompting adds explicit constraints on what to avoid: 'don't use marketing buzzwords,' 'never invent numbers — only use figures I paste,' 'no preamble.' Positive instructions say what you want; negative ones close off the common failure modes.
They're especially valuable for factual reliability ('if the data doesn't say, write UNKNOWN') and for tone. Keep them specific — a short list of concrete don'ts works better than a vague 'be professional.'
Related: output formatting · hallucination · prompt engineering
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