different between industrious vs proactive

English

Etymology

From Middle French industrieux, from Late Latin industriosus (“diligent, active, industrious”), from Latin industria (“diligence, industry”); see industry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?d?st?i.?s/

Adjective

industrious (comparative more industrious, superlative most industrious)

1. Hard-working and persistent.
   • 1941, Ogden Nash, "The ant", in The Face is Familiar, Garden City Publishing Company, page 224.

     The ant has made himself illustrious / Through constant industry industrious. / So what? / Would you be calm and placid / If you were full of formic acid?

   I was very industrious in my effort to learn unicycle riding.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:industrious

Antonyms

• lazy

Derived terms

• industriousness

Related terms

• industrial
• industry
• industriousness

Translations

Further reading

• industrious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• industrious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• industrious at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

pro- +? active; originally coined 1933 by Paul Whiteley and Gerald Blankfort in a psychology paper, used in technical sense. Used in a popular context and sense (courage, perseverance) in 1946 book Man’s Search for Meaning by neuropsychiatrist Viktor Emil Frankl, in the context of dealing with the Holocaust, as contrast with reactive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p????ækt?v/
• Rhymes: -ækt?v

Adjective

proactive (comparative more proactive, superlative most proactive)

1. Acting in advance to deal with an expected change or difficulty

Usage notes

Some consider proactive to be a buzzword, and it is associated with business-speak.

Depending on use, alternatives include active, preemptive, or “show initiative” instead of “be proactive”.

Synonyms

• anticipatory
• forward-looking

Antonyms

• reactive

Derived terms

• proactively
• proactivity
• proaction
• proactiveness

Related terms

• preactive
• proact
• proactor

Translations

References

• The Word Detective, Issue of February 5, 2001

French

Adjective

proactive

1. feminine singular of proactif