Proactive vs Preventive - What's the difference?
proactive | preventive |
Acting in advance to deal with an expected change or difficulty
* The Word Detective, Preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to.
Carried out to deter military aggression.
Slowing the development of an illness; prophylactic.
* Sir Thomas Browne
(obsolete) Going before; preceding.
* Cudworth
(dated) A thing that prevents, hinders, or acts as an obstacle to.
* 1856 , Henry William Herbert, The Complete Manual for Young Sportsmen
(nonstandard) A thing that slows the development of an illness.
A contraceptive, especially a condom.
preventive]
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As adjectives the difference between proactive and preventive
is that proactive is acting in advance to deal with an expected change or difficulty while preventive is preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to.As a noun preventive is
a thing that prevents, hinders, or acts as an obstacle to.proactive
English
(wikipedia proactive)Adjective
(en adjective)- We can deal with each problem as it pops up, or we can take a proactive stance and try to prevent future problems.
Usage notes
Some consider proactive to be a buzzword, and it is associated with business-speak.The good grammar guide, by Richard Palmer, 2003,p. 157Depending on use, alternatives include active, or “show initiative” instead of “be proactive ”.
Synonyms
* anticipatory * forward-lookingAntonyms
* reactiveDerived terms
* proactively * proactivity * proactivenessReferences
Issue of February 5, 2001----
preventive
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- Physic is either curative or preventive .
- Any previous counsel or preventive understanding.
Noun
(en noun)- Dogs should be warmly but airily housed; heartily, but not heatingly, fed — old Indian meal, mixed with oatmeal, suppawn, is the best general food, with a small quantity of salt, which is a preventive against worms