What Does the Prefix Pro Mean in the Word Proactive
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proactive
This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
adjective
serving to prepare for, intervene in, or control an expected occurrence or situation, especially a negative or difficult one; anticipatory: proactive measures against crime.
QUIZ
ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?
We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.
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Origin of proactive
First recorded in 1930–35; pro-1 + active
OTHER WORDS FROM proactive
pro·ac·tive, noun pro·ac·tiv·i·ty, pro·ac·tive·ness, noun pro·ac·tive·ly, adverb
Words nearby proactive
proabortion, proaccelerin, proacrosomal granule, proaction, proactivator, proactive, proactive inhibition, proagon, pro-am, pro-American, pro-ana
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
MORE ABOUT PROACTIVE
What doesproactive mean?
Proactive is the opposite of reactive. Actions that are proactive are initiated not in reaction to a situation but instead out of a desire to make a positive change, prepare for a situation, or prevent something from happening.
Proactive is commonly used to describe people who take such actions. It's also commonly used in the phrase proactive measures, meaning proactive actions, especially those done to prevent a negative situation.
Example: Henry credits most of his success to being proactive instead of waiting for opportunities to come to him.
Where doesproactive come from?
The first records of proactive come from the 1930s. It's formed with the prefix pro-, which in this case is used to mean "before." (When used in other words, like procrastinate, pro- often means "forward" or "outward.")
People who procrastinate are not proactive—they wait until the last minute to do things. Proactive people do things ahead of time. Specifically, they take initiative, as opposed to simply reacting when things happen. People are often praised for being proactive when their proactive measures are recognized for having prevented something negative from happening or having helped to make it not quite as bad as it could have been if such actions hadn't been taken.
For example, city officials can be proactive by building up a budget surplus that can be used in times of emergency. A student can be proactive by starting to research a topic that they know will be addressed in upcoming classes. An employee can be proactive by taking actions to address a problem that might happen in the future. In most cases, being proactive involves anticipating what's going to happen and then taking action instead of waiting to react to it.
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How isproactive used in real life?
Proactive is always used positively, especially when recognizing people whose actions have helped to prevent negative situations or helped to make them not as bad as they could have been.
Being proactive about any and all things that come your way is probably the most simple thing you could do that will make a huge difference in your life.
— DRE (@dopefindsDRE) April 28, 2020
Today is National Lost Dog Awareness Day. Acting swiftly can help you reunite with a lost pet faster. However, ensuring you have proactive measures in place also helps contribute to a speedy reunion: https://t.co/MqW71cxp1p pic.twitter.com/uJZGyyCzpf
— Petco (@Petco) April 24, 2020
A huge mistake young professionals make is to become active on LinkedIn only when they are looking for a job.
That's not proactive! Building a network isn't only for job search but for prospective career growth and future partnership.
Stop being reactive, Be Intentional!
— CareerLife Nigeria (@careerlifeng) April 22, 2020
Try usingproactive!
Which of the following words would NOT be used to refer to someone who's being proactive?
A. go-getter
B. procrastinator
C. prepared
D. gung-ho
How to use proactive in a sentence
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Investigators have moved from being perpetually on the back foot to being more proactive, with the result that many exchanges have responded with new rules and controls that simply did not exist before.
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Take a bank like M&T — they say they are being proactive, but from the outside, you really have no idea.
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I don't have the same implicit sense of how my team and colleagues are doing, so I need to be more proactive to check in.
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It has a lot to do with very specific, proactive efforts taken by the generation of women above me who launched the Women in Topology network.
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To do that, employers and hiring managers need to look at who is in their networks — if everyone looks like or acts like them, they need to take proactive steps to expand their reach.
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These are reactive, not proactive, stances, and they do little to offer substantive solutions.
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There seems to be a proactive disregard for knowing or caring about their lives and plight.
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Without a dedicated and proactive rescue force, campaigners fear, the death toll in the Mediterranean will skyrocket.
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Just as there are clear upsides to these types of proactive efforts in the corporate sector, there are downsides to not doing so.
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The reality is something less proactive than reactive, not an initiative but a condition—a matter of identity.
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So one cannot say that law, as opposed to politics, is not proactive.
British Dictionary definitions for proactive
adjective
tending to initiate change rather than reacting to events
psychol of or denoting a mental process that affects a subsequent process
Word Origin for proactive
C20: from pro- ² + (re) active
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
What Does the Prefix Pro Mean in the Word Proactive
Source: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/proactive