aggressive

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /əˈɡɹɛs.ɪv/ See IPA manual

Freq #4739

Meanings

1

adj
Behaving in an angry, threatening way and ready to attack or argue.

The dog became aggressive when strangers approached.
2

adj
Determined and forceful in pursuing your goals.

The company took an aggressive approach to expanding overseas.
3

adj
Of a disease, spreading quickly and hard to control.

She was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · behaving in an angry,... belligerent combative

3 adj · of a disease, spreading... fast-growing

Opposites

passive

Word family

Derived forms aggressively aggressivenessaggressivismaggressivistaggressivityalloaggressiveantiaggressiveautoaggressivehyperaggressivemicroaggressivenonaggressiveoveraggressive

Related forms aggression aggressor

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

aggressive businessman
a man in business who pursues opportunities forcefully and competitively

Adjective + noun

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *gʰredʰ-der. Latin gradior Latin aggredior Latin aggressuslbor. English aggress Proto-Indo-European *-wósder. Latin -īvus Old French -ifbor. Middle English -yf English -ive English aggressive From aggress + -ive. Compare with French agressif.

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# aggressive

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /əˈɡɹɛs.ɪv/
**Frequency rank:** 4739

## Meanings
1. Behaving in an angry, threatening way and ready to attack or argue.
2. Determined and forceful in pursuing your goals.
3. Of a disease, spreading quickly and hard to control.

## Examples
- The dog became aggressive when strangers approached.
- The company took an aggressive approach to expanding overseas.
- She was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

## Antonyms
- passive

## Derived Forms
- aggressively
- aggressiveness
- aggressivism
- aggressivist
- aggressivity
- alloaggressive
- antiaggressive
- autoaggressive
- hyperaggressive
- microaggressive
- nonaggressive
- overaggressive

## Related Forms
- aggression
- aggressor

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *gʰredʰ-der. Latin gradior Latin aggredior Latin aggressuslbor. English aggress Proto-Indo-European *-wósder. Latin -īvus Old French -ifbor. Middle English -yf English -ive English aggressive From aggress + -ive. Compare with French agressif.

## AI Etymology
Aggressive is from aggress plus -ive. Compare with French agressif. The formation is semantically transparent: the parts remain visible, while the compound or affix fixes the grammatical role and narrows the modern meaning. In use as an adjective, aggressive denotes behaving in an angry, threatening way and ready to attack or argue, determined and forceful in pursuing your goals, and of a disease, spreading quickly and hard to control. The same word family continues in derived forms such as aggressively, aggressiveness, aggressivism, and aggressivist and related entries such as aggression and aggressor.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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