aggressively

American  

[uh-gres-iv-lee] / əˈgrɛs ɪv li /

adverb

1. in an aggressive, militant, or menacing manner.

   The orders were to root out the entrenched rebels, swiftly and aggressively.

2. in a highly competitive manner; with an aggressive effort to win.

   The series was aggressively played by both teams.

3. in a vigorously or forcefully enterprising manner; ambitiously.

   an aggressively marketed line of cosmetics.

4. in a pushy or boldly assertive manner.

   They continue to lobby aggressively for a safer workplace.

5. Medicine/Medical.

   1. (of a disease’s or tumor’s viability) in a rapid and vigorous, highly invasive manner.

      The cancer has aggressively branched out to his lower intestine.

   2. in a highly potent, therapeutic, but risky manner, intended to destroy malignancy.

      Can the treatment aggressively target the tumor without harming healthy tissue?

6. (of a plant’s growth habit) with an undesirable tendency to spread rapidly, especially where unwanted.

   Wild lotuses have aggressively flourished in both ponds, much to the dismay of local canoeists.

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Other Word Forms

• nonaggressively
  adverb
• overaggressively
  adverb
• unaggressively
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of aggressively

First recorded in 1790–95; aggressive ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )

Explanation

When you do something aggressively, you act in a forceful and often hostile way. Aggressively tackling someone in football is generally fine, but aggressively shoving to the front of a line is not. The adverb aggressively means "with aggression" or "in a combative or threatening way." Think of military troops moving aggressively into enemy territory. You can also use this word in a slightly gentler way to describe something done forcefully or assertively: "They're marketing their cupcakes so aggressively — I see those ads everywhere I go!"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

aggressively

If you are near retirement, then you know that your entire portfolio, including those sale proceeds, shouldn’t be invested too aggressively.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 3, 2026

Stocks rose as investors bet that the Fed won’t be forced to raise rates as aggressively as previously feared after a weaker than expected jobs report.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

The move comes in the wake of a series of security incidents in which its OpenAI agents escaped containment, hacking some company websites and aggressively probing a range of websites.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

At the same time, Alaniz said, “LACCD should aggressively pursue appropriate state and federal grants.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

He looked my age, maybe a year older, and he sat with his tailbone against the edge of the chair, his posture aggressively poor, one hand half in a pocket of dark jeans.

From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green