pioneering
Americanadjective
-
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
Other Word Forms
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.
Pioneering Valley politician Cindy Montañez helped Valladares with her college entrance essay, starting a friendship that lasted until Montañez’s death in 2023.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2025
Pioneering computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, dubbed one of the “ godfathers of AI,” was tapped at the U.K. meeting to lead an expert panel tasked with drafting a report on the state of AI safety.
From Seattle Times • May 19, 2024
Pioneering work on iron-60 detection was conducted at TU Munich.
From Science Daily • Nov. 2, 2023
Its drug discovery initiative, called Pioneering Medicines, will lead the research for new drug molecules.
From Reuters • Jul. 18, 2023
Pioneering was to the advantage of the worst elements.
From The Merchants of Venus by Phelps, A. H.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
