progressive

See also: Progressive

English

Alternative forms

• prog. (abbreviation)
• prog (clipping)

Etymology

From the Middle French progressif, from the Latin prōgressīvus, from prōgredior (perfect participial stem: prōgress-) +‎ -īvus. Displaced native Old English forþgenġe. By surface analysis, progress +‎ -ive.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈɡɹɛsɪv/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈɡɹɛsɪv/, /pɹoʊ-/
• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈɡɹesɪv/
• Rhymes: -ɛsɪv
• Hyphenation: pro‧gress‧ive

Adjective

progressive (comparative more progressive, superlative most progressive)

1. Favouring or promoting progress; advanced.
2. Gradually advancing in extent; increasing.
3. Promoting or favoring progress towards improved conditions or new policies, ideas, or methods.

   a progressive politician

   progressive business leadership

4. (politics) Liberal.
   • 2016, Richard Lints, Progressive and Conservative Religious Ideologies, page i:

     Conservative movements were far more progressive than the standard religious narrative of the decade alleges and the notoriously progressive ethos of the era was far more conservative than our collective memory has recognized.

   • 2025 March 19, Alison Main, “Michigan Democrat says she ‘can’t just be an activist’ and calls on party to act”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin on Wednesday called for “action, not words” from Democrats, criticizing the approach of some in the progressive wing of the party.

5. (education) Of or relating to progressive education.

   a progressive school

6. (of an income tax or other tax) Increasing in rate as the taxable amount increases.
7. Advancing in severity.

   progressive paralysis

8. (grammar) Continuous.

Antonyms

• regressive
• (antonym(s) of “advancing in severity”): non-progressive
• conservative
• reactionary

Derived terms

• antiprogressive
• atheroprogressive
• brogressive
• fauxgressive
• hyperprogressive
• improgressive
• neoprogressive
• neuroprogressive
• nonprogressive
• oligoprogressive
• progressive aspect
• progressive assimilation (phonology)
• progressive bluegrass
• progressive creationism
• progressive creationist
• progressive dinner
• progressive enhancement
• progressive euchre
• progressive house
• progressive infantile poliodystrophy
• progressive jazz
• progressive longways formation
• progressive love
• progressively
• progressive metal
• progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
• progressiveness
• progressive overload
• progressive rap
• progressive rock
• progressive sclerosing poliodystrophy
• progressive stack
• progressive supper
• progressive tax
• progressive tense
• progressive war
• progressive web app
• progressive web application
• progressivism
• progressivist
• progressivity
• pseudoprogressive
• technoprogressive
• ultraprogressive
• ultra-progressive
• unprogressive

Related terms

• progress

Noun

progressive (plural progressives)

1. One with liberal or progressive political beliefs.

   The progressives want to legalise gay marriage.

   • 2025 January 19, John Blake, “What MLK knew that today’s progressives keep forgetting”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     Not long ago, few progressives imagined this day would come. They assumed the MAGA movement had been discredited by the shocking images that emerged from the January 6 insurrection, and that Trump was politically weakened by the barrage of criminal charges against him.

Translations

favouring or promoting progress; advanced

• Azerbaijani: qabaqcıl
• Bikol Central: mauswag
• Breton: araokour (br)
• Bulgarian: прогресивен (bg) (progresiven)
• Catalan: progressista
• Czech: pokrokový (cs) m
• Dutch: progressief (nl)
• Finnish: edistyksellinen (fi), edistysmielinen (fi) (favoring or promoting progress); edistynyt (fi) (advanced)
• Galician: progresista m or f
• Georgian: პროგრესული (ṗrogresuli), წინსვლითი (c̣insvliti)
• German: fortschrittlich (de), progressiv (de)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: پێشکەوتو (pêşkewtu)

• Old English: forþgenġe
• Polish: progresywny (pl)
• Portuguese: progressista (pt) m or f
• Romanian: progresist (ro), avansat (ro), înaintat (ro)
• Russian: передово́й (ru) (peredovój), прогресси́вный (ru) (progressívnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: adhartach
• Spanish: progresista (es)
• Swedish: progressiv (sv), banbrytande (sv)
• Tagalog: maunlad
• Turkish: ilerici (tr)

gradually advancing in extent; increasing

• Bulgarian: напредващ (bg) (napredvašt)
• Catalan: progressiu
• Finnish: lisääntyvä (fi), enenevä
• French: progressif (fr)
• Galician: progresivo (gl) m, progresiva f
• Georgian: პროგრესული (ṗrogresuli), მზარდი (mzardi), გაძლიერებული (gaʒlierebuli)
• German: progressiv (de)
• Greek: προοδευτικός (el) (proodeftikós)
• Italian: progressivo (it)
• Polish: postępowy (pl)
• Portuguese: progressivo (pt), progressiva (pt)
• Romanian: progresiv (ro)
• Russian: постепе́нный (ru) (postepénnyj), после́довательный (ru) (poslédovatelʹnyj), поступа́тельный (ru) (postupátelʹnyj), прогресси́рующий (ru) (progressírujuščij)
• Scottish Gaelic: ceumnach
• Spanish: progresivo (es)
• Tagalog: masulong

promoting or favoring progress towards improved conditions or new policies, ideas or methods

• Arabic: تَقَدُّمِيّ m (taqaddumiyy)
• Azerbaijani: qabaqcıl, mütərəqqi
• Catalan: progressista
• Esperanto: antaŭenema
• Finnish: edistyksellinen (fi), edistysmielinen (fi)
• German: progressiv (de)
• Greek: προοδευτικός (el) (proodeftikós)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: پێشکەوتو (pêşkewtu)

• Polish: progresywny (pl)
• Romanian: progresist (ro), de progres
• Russian: передово́й (ru) (peredovój), прогресси́вный (ru) (progressívnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: adhartach
• Swedish: progressiv (sv)
• Tagalog: masulong
• Turkish: ilerici (tr)

politically liberal

• Finnish: edistyksellinen (fi)
• German: progressiv (de)
• Vietnamese: tiến bộ chủ nghĩa, cấp tiến chủ nghĩa

of or relating to progressive education

• Finnish: progressiivinen (fi)
• Scottish Gaelic: adhartach

increasing in rate as the taxable amount increases

• Armenian: պրոգրեսիվ (hy) (progresiv)
• Bulgarian: прогресивен (bg) (progresiven)
• Catalan: progressiu
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 累進的 / 累进的 (lěijìn de)

• Finnish: progressiivinen (fi)
• German: progressiv (de)
• Kazakh: үдемелі (üdemelı)
• Polish: progresywny (pl)
• Romanian: progresiv (ro)
• Russian: прогресси́вный (ru) (progressívnyj)

advancing in severity

• Catalan: progressiu
• Finnish: etenevä (fi), paheneva
• German: progressiv (de)
• Greek: προϊών (el) (proïón)
• Norwegian:

  Norwegian Bokmål: progredierende

  Norwegian Nynorsk: progredierande

• Romanian: progresiv (ro)
• Russian: прогрессирующий (ru) (progressirujuščij) (progr'essírujuš'ij)
• Scottish Gaelic: adhartach

continuous — see continuous

Noun

progressive (plural progressives)

1. A person who actively favors or strives for progress towards improved conditions, as in society or government.
2. (grammar) A progressive verb; a verb used in the progressive tense and (in English) generally conjugated to end in -ing.

Derived terms

• future perfect progressive
• future progressive
• past perfect progressive
• past progressive
• present perfect progressive
• present progressive

Translations

A person who actively favors or strives for progress towards improved conditions, as in society or government

• Galician: progresista m or f
• Icelandic: framfarasinni m
• Italian: progressista (it)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: پێشکەوتو (pêşkewtu)

• Mongolian: дэвшилт үзэлтэн (devšilt üzelten)
• Polish: postępowiec m, progresywista m
• Portuguese: progressista (pt) m or f
• Russian: прогресси́вный челове́к (progressívnyj čelovék), прогресси́вный де́ятель (progressívnyj déjatelʹ), сторонник прогресса (storonnik progressa) (1), член прогрессивной партии (člen progressivnoj partii) (2)
• Spanish: progresista (es) m or f

Noun

progressive (plural progressives)

1. Clipping of progressive dinner.

Further reading

• "progressive" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 243.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ.siv/ ~ /pʁɔ.ɡʁe.siv/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

progressive

1. feminine singular of progressif

German

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

progressive

1. inflection of progressiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Interlingua

Adjective

progressive (comparative plus progressive, superlative le plus progressive)

1. progressive, gradually increasing, progressing

Italian

Adjective

progressive

1. feminine plural of progressivo

Latin

Adjective

prōgressīve

1. vocative masculine singular of prōgressīvus

Swedish

Adjective

progressive

1. definite natural masculine singular of progressiv