pioneering

American

[pahy-uh-neer-ing] / ˌpaɪ əˈnɪər ɪŋ /

adjective

being a pioneer, one of the first to settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others.

This early pioneering family helped open up western Victoria in Australia.
being among the first in any field of inquiry or activity; being among those spearheading an initiative of some kind.

Ours is a pioneering institution, continually advancing the understanding of medicine through groundbreaking research.
Ecology. (of an organism) successfully establishing itself in a barren area, thus starting an ecological cycle of life.

Pioneering species can initiate recovery on drastically disturbed sites like that of the former gas plant.

noun

the act or process of being a pioneer; the early settling of land, or the first forays into some type of activity.

I read about that forward-thinking doctor in an article on the pioneering of in vitro fertilization.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

unpioneering

adjective

Etymology

Origin of pioneering

First recorded in 1700–10; pioneer ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; pioneer ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun sense

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For teenagers Abdi and Kylan, who were both scouted by Armstrong and credit him entirely for getting them into the sport, the former national team player's pioneering status doesn't fully register until they see photographs.

From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026

That has left the pioneering cryptocurrency in an awkward position.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 4, 2026

In tandem with the studio, Hasbro is pioneering a new category of intellectual-property licensing, dubbed behavioral licensing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026

Its pioneering use of reusable rockets, which dramatically lowered the cost of exiting the earth’s atmosphere, has created the modern space economy.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

What the pioneering television researchers of the 1960s and 1970s — in particular, Daniel Anderson at the University of Massachusetts — began to realize, however, is that this isn’t how preschoolers watch TV at all.

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023