c. 1600, "characterized by advancement" (in action, character, etc.), from progress (n.) + -ive, or else from French progressif, from past participle stem of Latin progredi. Of taxation, from 1889; of jazz, from 1947. Meaning "characterized by striving for change and innovation, avant-garde, liberal" is from 1908.
In the socio-political sense "favoring reform; radically liberal," it emerged in various British contexts from the 1880s; in the U.S. it was active as a movement in the 1890s and a generation thereafter, the name being taken again from time to time, most recently by some more liberal Democrats and other social activists, by c. 2000. The noun in the sense "one who favors social and political change in the name of progress" is first attested 1865 (originally in Christianity). Earlier in a like sense were progressionist (1849, adjective; 1884, noun), progressist (1848). Related: Progressively; progressiveness.
双语例句
1. One prominent symptom of the disease is progressive loss of memory.
这种疾病的一个显著症状就是记忆逐渐丧失。
来自柯林斯例句
2. These weaknesses negated his otherwise progressive attitude towards the staff.
这些缺点抵消了他在其他方面对待员工还算开明的态度。
来自柯林斯例句
3. a progressive reduction in the size of the workforce
劳力数量的逐步减少
来自《权威词典》
4. It was a progressive disease and he would suffer more and more.
病情逐渐加剧,他将忍受越来越大的痛苦.
来自《简明英汉词典》
5. This is a yardstick for measuring whether a person is really progressive.
