1
as in combative
feeling or displaying eagerness to fight
a kindergarten teacher who discourages aggressive behavior, like pushing, by rewarding those children who wait their turn
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ambitious
having or showing a bold forcefulness in the pursuit of a goal
if you don't take a more aggressive approach to this yard pretty soon, the weeds are going to take over completely
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in violent
marked by or uttered with forcefulness
the team's game strategy depends on a very aggressive style of defense
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of aggressive
Got to keep being aggressive and trust the work.
—
Christian Clark, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
McDaniel was being aggressive, going for the seven points instead of settling for the three points a field goal would provide, which fits his coaching style.
—Omar Kelly
updated October 31, Miami Herald, 31 Oct. 2025
Once upon a time, a 65 year-old with 50% in stocks would have been seen as aggressive.
—Krysta Escobar, CNBC, 31 Oct. 2025
Lores responded with an aggressive plan to return $15 billion to shareholders, and by March 2020, HP’s smaller rival had withdrawn.
—Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 31 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for aggressive
Christian Clark, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
McDaniel was being aggressive, going for the seven points instead of settling for the three points a field goal would provide, which fits his coaching style.
—Omar Kelly
updated October 31, Miami Herald, 31 Oct. 2025
Once upon a time, a 65 year-old with 50% in stocks would have been seen as aggressive.
—Krysta Escobar, CNBC, 31 Oct. 2025
Lores responded with an aggressive plan to return $15 billion to shareholders, and by March 2020, HP’s smaller rival had withdrawn.
—Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 31 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for aggressive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for aggressive
Adjective
-
Even the combative Venezuela of eight years ago, where kids with homemade shields assembled in the streets day after day to battle the dictatorship’s goons, is a fading memory.—
Quico Toro,
The Atlantic,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Be curious rather than combative.—
Dossé-Via Trenou,
Refinery29,
26 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
While Variety previously confirmed the actors would appear in the ambitious project from director Sam Mendes, their deals all closed this week, leading Sony Pictures to make the formal announcement of their casting.—
Adam B. Vary,
Variety,
31 Oct. 2025
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The infrastructure study is the latest in a series of moves by city officials to see Sunrise Mall — which has suffered in recent years from store vacancies and declining sales — redeveloped under an ambitious plan that includes housing, entertainment and hotels.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
With words infallibly falling short, Pritam mingled realism with a fragmentary style of narration that meshes together social encounters, violent episodes, vivid metaphors, disturbing dreams, memories, intimate self-reflections, and introspection on society.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
30 Oct. 2025
-
Once embroiled in conflict, participants and spectators layer on more stories to make sense of their relationship to its violent cauldron.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Heading into a hostile environment at the Rogers Centre, the Dodgers must defeat the Toronto Blue Jays in Games 6 and 7 to clinch their second-straight World Series title.—
Jackson Roberts,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Plot details are very hazy, but the word on the street is that the story centers on a ne’er-do-well smuggler who finds himself in the middle of a deadly double-cross while on a job in the Caribbean Sea, resulting in him surrounded by bodies, hostile mercenaries and thirsty sharks alike.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Elizabeth’s determination not to settle the succession gave rise to fierce rivalry between the claimants to the English throne, among them Mary, Queen of Scots and her son James VI; James’s cousin Arbella Stuart; Lady Katherine Grey and her descendants; and Henry Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Nov. 2025
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Yet plans to expand America’s lab-monkey stockpile have been met with fierce opposition.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
The above endorsement of potentially beneficial effects associated with weekend exercise is good news for busy folks who can cram the minimal weekly recommendation of 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, or 150 minutes of moderate exercise into two consecutive days.—
Bryant Stamford,
Louisville Courier Journal,
30 Oct. 2025
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The movie, at its most vigorous and most menacing, is also illuminated with mystery and wonder.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Sia's contentious divorce just reached a whole new level of acrimony.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Oct. 2025
-
Before the vote, Mueller engaged in a contentious exchange with Canepa over the appointment route.—
Ryan Macasero,
Mercury News,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Israel says the militant group can access the remains of most of the hostages.—
Maayan Lubell,
USA Today,
28 Oct. 2025
-
Israel launched its war on Hamas after the October 7, 2023, terror attacks in which the militant group and its allies killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostages to Gaza.—
Oren Liebermann,
CNN Money,
28 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Aggressive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/aggressive. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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