noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/prəˈɡrɛsᵻvɪz(ə)m/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Canada, General-American:/prəˈɡrɛsɪˌvɪzəm/
Canada, General-American:/proʊˈɡrɛsɪˌvɪzəm/
1
noun
Meaning 1
A political ideology that favours progress towards better conditions in society.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
the political orientation of those who favor progress toward better conditions in government and society
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: political orientation, ideology, political theory
History
Etymology
Etymology tree English progressive Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English progressivism From progressive + -ism.
Across languages
Translations
37 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Asturian:
progresismu
— political ideology
Azerbaijani:
proqressivizm
— political ideology
Catalan:
progressisme
— political ideology
Hakka Chinese:
進步主義 /进步主义
(chin-phu chú-ngi)
— political ideology
Chinese:
進步主義 /进步主义
(chìn-pō͘ chú-gī)
— political ideology
Chinese Mandarin:
進步主義 /进步主义
(jìnbù zhǔyì)
— political ideology
Danish:
progressivisme
— political ideology
Esperanto:
progresismo
— political ideology
French:
progressisme
— political ideology
Galician:
progresismo
— political ideology
Georgian:
პროგრესივიზმი
(ṗrogresivizmi)
— political ideology
German:
Progressivismus
— political ideology
Greek:
προοδευτισμός
(proodeftismós)
— political ideology
Hindi:
प्रगतिवाद
(pragativād)
— political ideology
Icelandic:
framfarahyggja
— political ideology
Ido:
progresismo
— political ideology
Italian:
progressismo
— political ideology
Japanese:
革新主義
(kakushinshugi)
— political ideology
Kannada:
ಪ್ರಗತಿಶೀಲತೆ
(pragatiśīlate)
— political ideology
Kazakh:
прогрессивизм
(progressivizm)
— political ideology
Korean:
진보주의
(jinbojuui)
— political ideology
Malay:
progresivisme
— political ideology
Mongolian:
дэвшилт үзэл
(devšilt üzel)
— political ideology
Norwegian Bokmål:
progressivisme
— political ideology
Norwegian Nynorsk:
progressivisme
— political ideology
Occitan:
progressisme
— political ideology
Persian:
ترقیخواهی
— political ideology
Portuguese:
progressismo
— political ideology
Punjabi:
ਪ੍ਰਗਤੀਵਾਦ
(prgatīvād)
— political ideology
Russian:
прогресси́зм
(progressízm)
— political ideology
Russian:
прогрессиви́зм
(progressivízm)
— political ideology
Spanish:
progresismo
— political ideology
Swedish:
progressivism
— political ideology
Turkish:
ilerlemecilik
— political ideology
Ukrainian:
прогресивізм
(prohresyvizm)
— political ideology
Vietnamese:
chủ nghĩa tiến bộ
— political ideology
Vietnamese:
chủ nghĩa cấp tiến
— political ideology
