progressive

[ pruh-gres-iv ]

adjective

1. favoring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are, especially in political matters:

   The city recently elected a progressive mayor.

   Synonyms: liberal

2. making progress toward better conditions; employing or advocating more enlightened or liberal ideas, new or experimental methods, etc.:

   We are a progressive community supporting and connecting innovative artists from many different cultures.

3. Progressive, of or relating to any of the Progressive parties in politics.
4. going forward or onward; passing successively from one member of a series to the next; proceeding step by step:

   We are seeing a progressive increase in average temperatures worldwide.

   Synonyms: continuous, straight, successive, consecutive

5. relating to or being a form of taxation in which the rate increases with certain increases in taxable income.
6. of or relating to progressive education:

   He worries that progressive schools achieve less solid mastery than conventional schools.

7. Grammar. designating a verb aspect or other verb category used for an action or state in process at a particular point of reference in time, whether past, present, or future.
8. Medicine/Medical. continuously increasing in extent or severity, as a disease.

noun

1. a person who is progressive or who favors progress or reform, especially in political matters.
2. Progressive, a member of a Progressive party.
3. Grammar.
   1. a verb aspect or other verb category used for an action or state in process at a particular point of reference in time, whether past, present, or future.
   2. an instance or form of a verb in this aspect, such as They are thinking about it, I was reading when you called, or Tomorrow I will be traveling to Boston.

progressive

¹

/ prəˈɡrɛsɪv /

adjective

1. of or relating to progress
2. proceeding or progressing by steps or degrees
3. often capital favouring or promoting political or social reform through government action, or even revolution, to improve the lot of the majority

   a progressive policy

4. denoting or relating to an educational system that allows flexibility in learning procedures, based on activities determined by the needs and capacities of the individual child, the aim of which is to integrate academic with social development
5. See regressive
   (of a tax or tax system) graduated so that the rate increases relative to the amount taxed Compare regressive
6. (esp of a disease) advancing in severity, complexity, or extent
7. (of a dance, card game, etc) involving a regular change of partners after one figure, one game, etc
8. denoting an aspect of verbs in some languages, including English, used to express prolonged or continuous activity as opposed to momentary or habitual activity

   a progressive aspect of the verb ``to walk'' is ``is walking.''

noun

1. a person who advocates progress, as in education, politics, etc
2. 1. the progressive aspect of a verb
   2. a verb in this aspect

Progressive

²

/ prəˈɡrɛsɪv /

noun

1. history a member or supporter of a Progressive Party
2. Canadian history a member or supporter of a chiefly agrarian reform movement advocating the nationalization of railways, low tariffs, an end to party politics, and similar measures: important in the early 1920s

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a Progressive Party, Progressive movement, or Progressives

Derived Forms

• proˈgressivism, noun
• proˈgressively, adverb
• proˈgressiveness, noun
• proˈgressivist, noun

Other Words From

• pro·gres·sive·ly adverb
• pro·gres·sive·ness pro·gres·siv·i·ty [proh-gre-, siv, -i-tee], noun
• an·ti·pro·gres·sive adjective
• non·pro·gres·sive adjective noun
• non·pro·gres·sive·ness noun
• qua·si-pro·gres·sive adjective
• sem·i·pro·gres·sive adjective noun
• sem·i·pro·gres·sive·ness noun
• ul·tra·pro·gres·sive adjective noun
• ul·tra·pro·gres·sive·ness noun
• un·pro·gres·sive adjective
• un·pro·gres·sive·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of progressive¹

First recorded in 1600–10; progress + -ive

Example Sentences

On the other, there’s a point when even the most progressive parent squirms when confronted with a moaning, breathless roll in the sheets on a 50-inch screen.

From Washington Post

The Council, under Campbell, Williamson said, was not nearly as progressive as it acted.

From Voice of San Diego

He was also involved in the founding of Catalist, the flagship progressive data company.

From Time

Key financial regulatory positions remain unfilled, and progressives oppose some leading candidates.

From ProPublica

Today’s progressives are in danger of repeating my generation’s mistakes.

From Washington Post

Weiss is likely to get confirmed even as Warren and a handful of other progressive Democrats vote no.

From The Daily Beast

But now his politics were offending the progressive sensibilities of the American film industry.

From The Daily Beast

They are afflicted with “progressive spiritual emptiness,” he said, which no amount of academic honors and degrees can fill.

From The Daily Beast

Some imagine Senator Elizabeth Warren as the charismatic leader of a progressive version of the “tea party.”

From The Daily Beast

Throughout the progressive movement, this sentiment is echoed almost everywhere.

From The Daily Beast

The act, however, is a progressive piece of legislation and creates new conditions as the result of its own operation.

From Project Gutenberg

At first geologists were disposed to attribute all the phenomena of mountain-folding to the progressive cooling of the earth.

From Project Gutenberg

Science and revelation are therefore progressive, though in somewhat different ways.

From Project Gutenberg

In this section we can see how the progressive melting gradually brings the rocky débris into plain view.

From Project Gutenberg

I am too enlightened and progressive to feel comfortable in my own country, and that is why I spend so much time in England.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• forward-looking
• forward-thinking
• left
• left of center
• leftist
• liberal
• reformist