progressive
Noun pluralprogressives
Pluralprogressives
- 1Wanting to make things better by trying new ideas, methods, or rules.
Like a person who always looks for a better way to do something.
She has a progressive attitude and loves trying new ways of doing things.
The new mayor brought progressive ideas to the town council.
Similarreformist, forward-looking, enlightened, innovative, liberal
Oppositeconservative, reactionary, traditional, regressive
- 2Having liberal, left-leaning political views.
He comes from a progressive family that supports equal rights for everyone.
Their town elected a progressive council last year.
Similarliberal, left-wing, leftist, left-leaning
Oppositeconservative, right-wing, reactionary
Note
- 3A person who holds liberal, left-leaning political beliefs.
My aunt is a progressive who marches for climate action.
Several progressives won seats in the recent election.
Similarliberal, leftist, left-winger
Oppositeconservative, reactionary, right-winger
Note
- 4Forward-looking and in favor of new, better ways of doing things.
Like always picking the newest, better way instead of the old one.
The new farming co-op uses progressive methods to protect the soil and water.
Their progressive design won an award for innovation.
Similarforward-looking, innovative, advanced, modern, enlightened
Oppositeconservative, traditional, old-fashioned, backward
Note
- 5A person who works hard to make society or government better.
As a progressive, she spends weekends helping improve her neighborhood.
The progressives in the group pushed for cleaner streets and better schools.
Similarreformer, reformist, campaigner, activist
Oppositeconservative, reactionary, traditionalist
- 6Slowly growing or increasing little by little.
Like a snowball that slowly gets bigger as it rolls.
There was a progressive rise in temperatures through the afternoon.
She made progressive improvements to her garden each season.
Similargradual, steady, increasing, continuous, cumulative
- 7Used about a tax that takes a bigger share as the amount gets larger.
Like steps where each higher step asks you to pay a little more.
A progressive tax makes people who earn more pay a bigger share.
The country uses a progressive system, so higher earners pay more.
Similargraduated
Oppositeregressive, flat
Note
- 8Used about an illness that slowly gets worse over time.
Like a leak that slowly gets bigger over time.
The doctor explained that the illness is progressive and will get worse.
She has a progressive condition that slowly weakens her muscles.
Similardegenerative, deteriorating
Oppositestable, nonprogressive
Note
- 9Used about a verb form that shows an action is still going on.
Like saying something is 'in the middle of happening' right now.
We use the progressive tense to talk about something happening right now.
In the sentence 'they are playing,' the verb is in the progressive form.
Similarcontinuous
Note
- 10Connected with progressive education, a teaching style based on hands-on, child-centered learning.
Like learning to cook by actually cooking, not by reading about it.
The school uses progressive methods, so kids learn by doing real projects.
Her teacher has a progressive style and lets students choose their own topics.
Similarexperiential, child-centered, alternative
Oppositetraditional, conventional
Note
- 11A verb form that shows ongoing action, usually ending in -ing in English.
Like the '-ing' word that tells you something is happening now.
In 'she is singing,' the progressive tells us the action is still going on.
English speakers use the progressive a lot to describe current actions.
Note
- 12Short for progressive dinner. A meal where each course is eaten at a different home.
We're hosting a progressive this Saturday, starting with soup at our place.
The neighborhood progressive ended with dessert at the Smiths' house.
Note
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of progressive apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
From Latin, from a word meaning to go forward. It came into English through Middle French.