1
a(1)
: a royal journey marked by pomp and pageant
(2)
: a state procession
b
: a tour or circuit made by an official (such as a judge)
c
: an expedition, journey, or march through a region
2
: a forward or onward movement (as to an objective or to a goal) : advance
3
: gradual betterment
especially
: the progressive development of humankind
progressed; progressing; progresses
1
: to move forward : proceed
2
: to develop to a higher, better, or more advanced stage
Synonyms
Examples of progress in a Sentence
Noun
the rapid progress of the ship
He made slow progress down the steep cliff.
The project showed slow but steady progress.
Verb
The project has been progressing slowly.
The work is progressing and should be completed soon.
The caravan progressed slowly across the desert.
Recent Examples on the Web
Christopher Rugaber, Fortune, 6 Apr. 2024
The sounds change based on the intensity of the light, allowing people with blindness or low vision to follow the progress of the eclipse.
—Elise Hammond, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024
Stefano Bini, a professor at UC San Francisco’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, has been working with sensors that can assess the recovery progress after a person has knee replacement surgery.
—Steven Levy, WIRED, 5 Apr. 2024
Other Trump motions to dismiss the indictment remain unresolved by the judge, the trial date is in flux, and additional legal disputes have slowed the progress of the case.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 5 Apr. 2024
Nikole Hannah-Jones examines how the fall of affirmative action may be viewed as part of a 50-year campaign to undermine the progress of the civil rights movement.
—John Hodgman, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2024
The program allocates about $280 million annually to stormwater capture projects, although recent reports have found that progress to date has been slow.
—Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Still, other officials see this step toward international lunar cooperation as necessary progress.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Apr. 2024
Addressing a business conference at Stanford University, Powell touted progress in the fight to cool price increases while acknowledging that such headway had stalled in recent months.
—Max Zahn, ABC News, 3 Apr. 2024
Chloé Meley, Fortune Europe, 8 Apr. 2024
Cobb had progressed to throwing up to five innings in minor-league games before being shut down.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 5 Apr. 2024
Once shoehorned into the vehicles, students can progress from finding the right driving line and apex to reading track conditions while continuing to deliver faster lap times.
—Michael Van Runkle, Robb Report, 3 Apr. 2024
Under the collective’s documentary film and media fellowship, six Indian heritage filmmakers based in India and U.S. will receive a grant of $2000 each, funded by Color Congress, to progress their ongoing short or long form documentary projects.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 3 Apr. 2024
My daughter's speech stopped progressing at 2 years old.
—Emilee Coblentz, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2024
Numbers in writing for a Royals stadium For the Royals project to progress, the sports authority and the Royals must have approved a plan and criteria for a new stadium, a project budget, project schedule, preliminary project schedule and minimum requirement elements.
—Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 30 Mar. 2024
These discoveries allowed the field to progress rapidly with new trials and cases.
—William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
During a lunar eclipse, observers can witness the moon gradually being covered by the Earth's shadow, then gradually being uncovered as the eclipse progresses.
—The Arizona Republic, 26 Mar. 2024
Noun
Rapid economic growth could reignite inflation pressures, undoing the progress that has been made.
—Christopher Rugaber, Fortune, 6 Apr. 2024
The sounds change based on the intensity of the light, allowing people with blindness or low vision to follow the progress of the eclipse.
—Elise Hammond, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024
Stefano Bini, a professor at UC San Francisco’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, has been working with sensors that can assess the recovery progress after a person has knee replacement surgery.
—Steven Levy, WIRED, 5 Apr. 2024
Other Trump motions to dismiss the indictment remain unresolved by the judge, the trial date is in flux, and additional legal disputes have slowed the progress of the case.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 5 Apr. 2024
Nikole Hannah-Jones examines how the fall of affirmative action may be viewed as part of a 50-year campaign to undermine the progress of the civil rights movement.
—John Hodgman, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2024
The program allocates about $280 million annually to stormwater capture projects, although recent reports have found that progress to date has been slow.
—Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Still, other officials see this step toward international lunar cooperation as necessary progress.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Apr. 2024
Addressing a business conference at Stanford University, Powell touted progress in the fight to cool price increases while acknowledging that such headway had stalled in recent months.
—Max Zahn, ABC News, 3 Apr. 2024
Verb
If these countries progress to the latter stages of the tournament as expected, brewers are likely to see a surge in volumes.
—Chloé Meley, Fortune Europe, 8 Apr. 2024
Cobb had progressed to throwing up to five innings in minor-league games before being shut down.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 5 Apr. 2024
Once shoehorned into the vehicles, students can progress from finding the right driving line and apex to reading track conditions while continuing to deliver faster lap times.
—Michael Van Runkle, Robb Report, 3 Apr. 2024
Under the collective’s documentary film and media fellowship, six Indian heritage filmmakers based in India and U.S. will receive a grant of $2000 each, funded by Color Congress, to progress their ongoing short or long form documentary projects.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 3 Apr. 2024
My daughter's speech stopped progressing at 2 years old.
—Emilee Coblentz, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2024
Numbers in writing for a Royals stadium For the Royals project to progress, the sports authority and the Royals must have approved a plan and criteria for a new stadium, a project budget, project schedule, preliminary project schedule and minimum requirement elements.
—Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 30 Mar. 2024
These discoveries allowed the field to progress rapidly with new trials and cases.
—William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
During a lunar eclipse, observers can witness the moon gradually being covered by the Earth's shadow, then gradually being uncovered as the eclipse progresses.
—The Arizona Republic, 26 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'progress.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near progress
Cite this Entry
“Progress.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/progress. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
progress
1 of 2 noun
prog·ress
ˈpräg-rəs 
-ˌres,
chiefly British ˈprō-ˌgres
1
: a moving toward a goal
the progress of a ship
2
: gradual improvement or advancement
the progress of science
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