Proactive

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /pɹəʊˈæk.tɪv/

Definitions

1. Making anticipatory choices to address potential risks
2. Acting in advance to create positive outcomes rather than merely responding to situations
3. Showing a tendency to anticipate and act ahead of potential issues to avoid trouble

Etymology: The word was first used in a 1933 psychology paper by Paul Whiteley and Gerald Blankfort, titled "The Influence of Certain Prior Conditions Upon Learning," published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. In that technical setting it described learning and behaviour shaped by what came before, and it was a purely scientific term for a long time. Its popular sense arrived in 1946 with Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning," written by the Austrian neuropsychiatrist after his experiences in Nazi concentration camps. Frankl set the proactive person, who takes charge of how they respond to circumstances, against the reactive person, who is simply shaped by them. In his hands the word came to carry ideas of courage and perseverance. The word is built from "pro-," meaning "forward" or "in favour of," and "active." Together they describe someone who acts before events force them to.

Synonyms: anticipatory, preemptive, forward-thinking, preventive, initiative

Antonyms: reactive, passive, unresponsive, indifferent, complacent