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proactively

American  
[proh-ak-tiv-lee] / proʊˈæk tɪv li /

adverb

  1. in advance and in order to prepare for, intervene in, or control an expected occurrence, especially a negative or challenging one.

    I’m glad to be working with an IT company that's proactively strategizing for the future instead of reacting to yesterday's issues.


Etymology

Origin of proactively

proactive ( def. ) + -ly

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.

While preparing for a threat of uncertain magnitude is challenging, major institutions are proactively updating their defenses.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

Montgomery said EPA officials would proactively reach out to property owners whose lots had lead levels above the federal benchmark of 200 milligrams per kilogram.

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026

“Even Amazon, which has so many years of our purchase histories, doesn’t really proactively recommend products that we don’t know we might want yet.”

From MarketWatch • May 13, 2026

A spokeswoman for OpenAI has said the company doesn’t believe ChatGPT was responsible for Ikner’s actions and said OpenAI proactively shared the conversations with law enforcement after the incident.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

One can cautiously make the case that the major political documents of the past were conceived in reaction to an intolerable state of affairs and events, not proactively, in anticipation of new situations and expectations.

From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Nadin, Mihai

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