progressive

adjective

pro·gres·sive | \ prə-ˈgre-siv

Definition of progressive

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : of, relating to, or characterized by progress

b : making use of or interested in new ideas, findings, or opportunities

c : of, relating to, or constituting an educational theory marked by emphasis on the individual child, informality of classroom procedure, and encouragement of self-expression

2 : of, relating to, or characterized by progression

3 : moving forward or onward : advancing

4a : increasing in extent or severity a progressive disease

b : increasing in rate as the base increases a progressive tax

5 often capitalized : of or relating to political Progressives

6 : of, relating to, or constituting a verb form that expresses action or state in progress at the time of speaking or a time spoken of

7 : of, relating to, or being a multifocal lens with a gradual transition between focal lengths progressive bifocals

8 : or, relating to, or using a method of video scanning (as for television or a computer monitor) in which the horizontal lines of each frame are drawn successively from top to bottom — compare interlaced

progressive

noun

Definition of progressive (Entry 2 of 2)

1a : one that is progressive

b : one believing in moderate political change and especially social improvement by governmental action

2 capitalized : a member of any of various U.S. political parties: such as

a : a member of a predominantly agrarian minor party that around 1912 split off from the Republicans specifically : bull moose

b : a follower of Robert M. La Follette in the presidential campaign of 1924

c : a follower of Henry A. Wallace in the presidential campaign of 1948

Other Words from progressive Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about progressive

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Examples of progressive in a Sentence

Adjective

the progressive movements of the hands of a clock progressive forms of animal life

Noun

“Believe” is never used in the progressive.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Hossa, 39, did not play last season because of severe side effects from medication to treat a progressive skin disorder. — BostonGlobe.com, "US Olympic Committee tabs Sarah Hirshland as its CEO," 13 July 2018 And agencies are directed to move swiftly to fire poor performers, renegotiating any contracts that allow for progressive discipline. — Lisa Rein, Anchorage Daily News, "New curbs on federal unions begin to take effect," 9 July 2018 At the AIA Conference on Architecture—the profession’s annual convention held this year in New York from June 22 to 23—both the establishment and progressive professional groups called for radical change. — Diana Budds, Curbed, "#MeToo hit architecture. Now what?," 5 July 2018 And so there have been some nascent technologies put together by Democratic progressive tech companies, about using your contacts, like matching your contacts to voter file and data. — Recode Staff, Recode, "Full transcript: Pod Save America’s Dan Pfeiffer on Recode Media," 2 July 2018 The logo may be ugly, but the promotion is one that MLB, typically loath to embrace anything too progressive, should consider expanding. — Si.com Staff, SI.com, "Nine Innings: Solving the Yankees' Sonny Gray Problem, AL East Deciding Factors and Our Favorite Statcast Quirks," 2 July 2018 But the Democrats plan to use the bill as a progressive theme. — Bill Allison, Bloomberg.com, "Democrats Take Aim at ‘Dark Money’ With Eye on Midterm Elections," 28 June 2018 The disease is a progressive neurological one that leads to the damage and eventual death of nerve cells involved in movement. — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, "Under “right-to-try” law, therapy may go for $300K—with no proof it will work," 22 June 2018 Ali has muscular dystrophy — a genetic disease that causes progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass — which has featured prominently on the show. — Alexia Fernandez, PEOPLE.com, "Teen Mom's Leah Messer Reveals She Slept with Ex-Husband Jeremy Calvert: 'It Happened Once'," 19 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Ocasio-Cortez is one of many progressives who has called for ICE to be abolished. — Ryan W. Miller, USA TODAY, "New York's Kirsten Gillibrand, Bill de Blasio echo progressive calls to 'abolish ICE'," 29 June 2018 Wiener said the presence of Breed, a member of the city’s more moderate wing, and Mandelman, considered an ally of progressives, showed there’s broad support in San Francisco for his bill. — Melody Gutierrez, SFChronicle.com, "London Breed urges lawmakers to boost homeless conservatorship laws for SF," 28 June 2018 Election victories by a new generation of progressives like Ocasio-Cortez may increase the pressure on Pelosi and other Democratic leaders, especially if Democrats win control of the House by a small margin. — Sarah D. Wire, latimes.com, "Surprise defeat of Rep. Joe Crowley may signal Democratic unease about Pelosi's leadership team," 27 June 2018 In Braunau San Francisco Playhouse resents Dipika Guha’s story of a pair of idealistic progressives who move to Austria and embark on a plan to turn Adolf Hitler’s house into a bed-and-dinner. — Chronicle Staff Report, San Francisco Chronicle, "Theater capsule reviews and listings, week of June 17," 14 June 2018 De Leon is the candidate of progressives disenchanted with Feinstein’s history of intermittent ideological heresy and relative friendliness toward Republicans. — Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Why Republicans Are Fighting So Hard to Get Into California’s Gubernatorial Election," 24 May 2018 The bill passed the Senate with support from 17 members of the Democratic caucus, but it was fiercely opposed by progressives in an at intraparty fight that at times turned personal. — Erica Werner, idahostatesman, "Trump signs law rolling back banking rules, an effort led by Idaho's Sen. Crapo | Idaho Statesman," 24 May 2018 But others speculate that overturning Roe v. Wade might be less galvanizing to progressives if a woman casts the decisive fifth vote. — Dara Lind, Vox, "Trump’s reported Supreme Court finalists: Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Raymond Kethledge," 5 July 2018 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's win on Tuesday gave a lot of hope to progressives trying to remake the Democratic party. — NBC News, "Meet the Press - July 1, 2018," 1 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'progressive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.