aggressiveadjective
uk/əˈɡres.ɪv/us/əˈɡres.ɪv/aggressive adjective (ANGRY)
B2 behaving in an angry and violent way towards another person:
Men tend to be more aggressive than women.
If I criticize him, he gets aggressive and starts shouting.
More examples
- He is rebellious, aggressive and at times self-destructive.
- He's slightly aggressive, which a lot of people find a bit off-putting when they first meet him.
- The mood of the crowd suddenly turned aggressive.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Violent or aggressive
- aggro
- all hell breaks loose idiom
- atrocious
- atrocity
- bellicose
- confrontation
- desperate
- forced
- forcible
- frenzied
- gay-basher
- gory
- hostile
- sabre-rattling
- savage
- savagely
- savagery
- steep
- steeped in blood idiom
- strong-arm
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aggressive adjective (DETERMINED)
C1 determined to win or succeed and using forceful action to win or to achieve success:
an aggressive election campaign
aggressive marketing tactics
Both players won their first-round matches in aggressive style.
More examples
- She carved out a reputation for herself as an aggressive businesswoman.
- He's so aggressive - it's as if he's always trying to prove something.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Strong-willed
- a firm hand idiom
- adamant
- adamantine
- an iron hand/fist in a velvet glove idiom
- be as stubborn as a mule idiom
- go-getter
- going
- gutsy
- hard-boiled
- hard-headed
- importunate
- pigheaded
- purposeful
- pushy
- ravening
- recalcitrant
- redoubtable
- will not take no for an answer idiom
- willful
- with guns blazing idiom
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aggressive adjective (DISEASE)
specialized medical An aggressive disease is one that spreads quickly and has little chance of being cured:
The more aggressive the cancer, the further and faster it spreads.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Cancer
- acinic cell carcinoma
- acral lentiginous melanoma
- alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma
- alveolar soft part sarcoma
- ameloblastoma
- carcinogenesis
- carcinogenic
- chondroid chordoma
- chondrosarcoma
- chordoma
- craniopharyngioma
- malignancy
- myeloma
- neoplasia
- neoplasm
- neoplastic
- nephron-sparing surgery
- oncogene
- sarcoma
- tumour
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aggressive adjective (TREATMENT)
specialized medical used to describe a very strong treatment for a serious condition:
Brain cancer requires aggressive treatment such as surgery.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Cancer
- acinic cell carcinoma
- acral lentiginous melanoma
- alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma
- alveolar soft part sarcoma
- ameloblastoma
- carcinogenesis
- carcinogenic
- chondroid chordoma
- chondrosarcoma
- chordoma
- craniopharyngioma
- malignancy
- myeloma
- neoplasia
- neoplasm
- neoplastic
- nephron-sparing surgery
- oncogene
- sarcoma
- tumour
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aggressively
adverb uk/əˈɡres.ɪv.li/us/əˈɡres.ɪv.li/
B2
Small children often behave aggressively.
The company is aggressively pursuing new business opportunities.
They played more aggressively in the second half.