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Proactive vs Progressive - What's the difference?

proactive | progressive |

As adjectives the difference between proactive and progressive

is that proactive is acting in advance to deal with an expected change or difficulty while progressive is belonging to or supporting a.

As a noun progressive is

a member or supporter of a.

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 ----

    progressive

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Favouring or promoting progress; advanced.
  • Gradually advancing in extent; increasing.
  • Promoting or favoring progress towards improved conditions or new policies, ideas or methods.
    • a progressive politician
    progressive business leadership
  • Of or relating to progressive education.
    • a progressive school
  • (of an income tax or other tax) Increasing in rate as the taxable amount increases.
  • Advancing in severity.
    • progressive paralysis
  • liberal (politically)
  • (grammar) continuous

    • Antonyms

    * regressive * (advancing in severity) non-progressive * conservative

    Derived terms

    * progressive euchre * progressiveness * progressivism * progressivity

    Related terms

    * progress

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person who actively favors or strives for progress towards improved conditions, as in society or government.
  • (grammar) A progressive verb.

    • Derived terms

    * future perfect progressive * future progressive * past perfect progressive * past progressive * present perfect progressive * present progressive