American Dictionary

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Definition progressive in American English

progressive adjective

adjective
/prəˈɡresɪv/
1

supporting social and political change that aims to make a system fairer

Example

a progressive tax system

Example

an alliance of progressive forces

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1.1

progressive education aims to help children to develop all their abilities

Synonyms and related words
Example

The disease causes progressive deterioration of the nervous system.

Example

the progressive development of a professional style of nursing

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3

the progressive aspect indicates that an action, situation, or event is seen as continuing during a particular period of time. The progressive verb group consists of a form of "be" and a present participle ("-ing" form). For example in the sentence "The forests are dying and the fish are disappearing," "dying" and "disappearing" are seen as happening now. In the sentence "In the 1990s the firm was losing $200 million a year," "losing" was going on during a period in the past.

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4

used for describing music that tries new or unusual ideas, sometimes making it difficult to listen to

Example

progressive jazz/rock

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Definition progressive in American English