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Anticipatory vs Proactive - What's the difference?

anticipatory | proactive | Synonyms |

Proactive is a synonym of anticipatory.



As adjectives the difference between anticipatory and proactive

is that anticipatory is characterized by anticipation while proactive is acting in advance to deal with an expected change or difficulty.

anticipatory

English

Adjective

(head)
  • Characterized by anticipation.
    • The children were all wearing anticipatory grins in the minutes before the cake was served.

    proactive

    English

    (wikipedia proactive)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Acting in advance to deal with an expected change or difficulty
    • We can deal with each problem as it pops up, or we can take a proactive stance and try to prevent future problems.

    Usage notes

    Some consider proactive to be a buzzword, and it is associated with business-speak.The good grammar guide, by Richard Palmer, 2003, p. 157 Depending on use, alternatives include active, or “show initiative” instead of “be proactive ”.

    Synonyms

    * anticipatory * forward-looking

    Antonyms

    * reactive

    Derived terms

    * proactively * proactivity * proactiveness

    Related terms

    * proact * proactor

    References

    * The Word Detective, Issue of February 5, 2001 ----