initiative
an introductory act or step; leading action: to take the initiative in making friends.
readiness and ability in initiating action; enterprise: to lack initiative.
one's personal, responsible decision: to act on one's own initiative.
Government.
a procedure by which a specified number of voters may propose a statute, constitutional amendment, or ordinance, and compel a popular vote on its adoption.: Compare referendum (def. 1).
the general right or ability to present a new bill or measure, as in a legislature.
of or relating to formal admission or acceptance into a club or other group; signifying an initiation: The secret society's initiative events are best left undescribed.
serving to set in motion or initiate; introductory; beginning: Initiative steps were taken to stop manufacture of the drug.
Origin of initiative
1Other words for initiative
Other words from initiative
- in·i·ti·a·tive·ly, adverb
- self-in·i·ti·a·tive, noun
- su·per·in·i·ti·a·tive, noun
- un·in·i·ti·a·tive, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use initiative in a sentence
The delegates were given envelopes containing $40,000 during a meeting about grassroots soccer initiatives.
But while restoration is important, what these initiatives lack is a master conservation plan.
These days cash-strapped Italy is handing out restoration initiatives to just about anyone willing to pay the bill.
Ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage passed in four states: Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota.
Voters Remind D.C. That the Economy Still Sucks | Stuart Stevens | November 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd these initiatives represent an effort to fundamentally rethink our landscape.
The line of human improvement and the expansion of human life lies in the direction of education and finer initiatives.
The New Machiavelli | Herbert George WellsUnco-ordinated human initiatives lead to nothing but social chaos.
The Outline of History: Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind | Herbert George WellsIt was an age of political division indeed, but of very great intellectual initiatives.
The Outline of History: Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind | Herbert George WellsI know nothing that so much confirms your philosophy as this spectacle of an accumulation of individual initiatives all preserved.
The Letters of William James, Vol. 1 | William JamesThe role of parents and teachers is to call forth and welcome the personal responses and initiatives of their children.
Herein is Love | Reuel L. Howe
British Dictionary definitions for initiative
/ (ɪˈnɪʃɪətɪv, -ˈnɪʃətɪv) /
the first step or action of a matter; commencing move: he took the initiative; a peace initiative
the right or power to begin or initiate something: he has the initiative
the ability or attitude required to begin or initiate something
government
the right or power to introduce legislation, etc, in a legislative body
the procedure by which citizens originate legislation, as in many American states and Switzerland
on one's own initiative without being prompted
of or concerning initiation or serving to initiate; initiatory
Derived forms of initiative
- initiatively, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with initiative
see on one's own account (initiative); take the initiative.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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