aggressively

[ uh-gres-iv-lee ]

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.

Other Words From

• non·ag·gres·sive·ly adverb
• o·ver·ag·gres·sive·ly adverb
• un·ag·gres·sive·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of aggressively¹

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

Example Sentences

Management, its legal counsel and an outside law firm hired by the Audit Committee have argued aggressively that the personnel moves were perfectly legal, and that the auditor came to false conclusions.

From Voice of San Diego

This will lead them to aggressively remove content that might displease the government, and they will police users for improper posts.

From MIT Technology Review

As the party was being broken up, he saw a police officer aggressively questioning a teenage attendee and stepped in to help her, he said.

From Voice of San Diego

However, now is the time to repurpose all the content or videos that you have created before and utilize them for aggressively claiming the YouTube business space for your industry.

From Search Engine Watch

It began aggressively adding “Chipotlanes,” drive-thru lanes exclusively for picking up digital orders.

From Fortune

Nothing in it was meant to change the basic operations of the capitalist economy or to intervene aggressively in class relations.

From The Daily Beast

Democrats need to respond aggressively to the crony capitalism practiced by many Republicans, particularly regarding Wall Street.

From The Daily Beast

In lieu of this, dispensaries are getting aggressively green on their websites.

From The Daily Beast

Reid aggressively raises money for Senate Majority PAC, which has spent $39 million on attack ads alone this cycle.

From The Daily Beast

NBC reportedly aggressively courted The Daily Show host to front Meet The Press.

From The Daily Beast

His scraggly beard was thrust forward aggressively, and his deep-set eyes fairly blazed between narrowed lids.

From Project Gutenberg

Pon my word, said Flick aggressively, whos disposing of things around here?

From Project Gutenberg

Francesca is inflexibly, almost aggressively American, but Salemina is a citizen of the world.

From Project Gutenberg

"I think you were not only aggressively American, but painfully provincial," said Salemina, with some warmth.

From Project Gutenberg

She held her ground, aggressively, between Miss Rexhill and the door.

From Project Gutenberg