progressive

The word “progressive” means favoring new ideas, reform, or gradual improvement in society. In plain terms, either politically reform-minded, or steadily increasing/developing.

“Progressive” is pronounced pruh-GREH-sihv (/pɹəˈɡɹɛsɪv/ in IPA).

Here is “progressive” used in a sentence: “The candidate ran on a progressive platform focused on healthcare reform.”

The opposite of “progressive” — its antonyms — are regressive, non-progressive, conservative and reactionary.

Depending on how it is used, “progressive” can be an adjective and a noun.

The word “progressive” comes from Latin. From Latin progredior ("to advance") via French progressif, plus the adjective suffix "-ive.".

“Progressive” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A2 level.

“Progressive” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: favoring new ideas, reform, or gradual improvement in society.

In a political sense, progressive describes favoring new ideas, reform, and change, while conservative describes favoring tradition and caution about change. The two terms are commonly treated as opposites.

Both suggest openness to reform, but progressive specifically emphasizes active support for social change and improvement, while liberal more broadly stresses individual freedom and tolerance. The terms overlap and are sometimes used interchangeably.

In grammar, the progressive (also called the continuous) is a verb form using "be" plus an "-ing" participle to show an action in progress, as in "she is reading." This grammatical sense connects to progressive's meaning of something happening gradually or continuously.

Progressive can describe something increasing steadily over time, as in "a progressive illness" or "progressive improvement." In this sense it has no political meaning and simply indicates steady, step-by-step change.