adj
proactive
proh-AK-tihv
adj
1
Taking action ahead of time to prevent or prepare for a problem, rather than just reacting once it happens.
"The company took a proactive approach to cybersecurity instead of waiting for a breach."
"Being proactive about your health means going for checkups before anything feels wrong."
How to Use Proactive
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishActing ahead of a problem instead of just responding after it happens.
Easily confused with
Common pairings
proactive approach
be proactive about
Word Forms
more proactive comparative, most proactive superlative
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The company took a _____ approach to cybersecurity instead of waiting for a breach.
Etymology
Coined in 1933 by psychologists Paul Whiteley and Gerald Blankfort, later popularized in the 1946 book "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl, deliberately as the opposite of "reactive."