Proactive

Pronunciation

Origin

- + active; originally coined 1933 by Paul Whiteley and Gerald Blankfort in a psychology paper, used in technical sense.

OED

Whiteley, Paul L.; Blankfort, Gerald (1933), “The Influence of Certain Prior Conditions Upon Learning”, Journal of Experimental Psychology (APA) 16: 843–851

Used in a popular context and sense (courage, perseverance) in 1946 book Man's Search for Meaning by neuropsychiatrist Viktor Emil Frankl, in the context of dealing with the Holocaust, as contrast with reactive.

Full definition of proactive

Adjective

1. Acting in advance to deal with an expected change or difficultyWe can deal with each problem as it pops up, or we can take a proactive stance and try to prevent future problems.

Usage notes

Some consider proactive to be a buzzword, and it is associated with business-speak.

The good grammar guide, by Richard Palmer, 2003, p. 157

Depending on use, alternatives include active, or “show initiative” instead of “be proactive”.

Synonyms

• anticipatory
• forward-looking

Antonyms

• reactive

Derived terms

• proactively
• proactivity
• proactiveness

Related terms

• proact
• proactor