unprogressive

U1N1P3R1O1G2R1E1S1S1I1V4E1

adjective

Not progressive; not contributing to progress.

Scrabble 19

Meanings

adjectiveunprogressive (comparative more unprogressive, superlative most unprogressive)

comparative more unprogressive · superlative most unprogressive

  1. Not progressive; not contributing to progress.
    1 more example

    Introducing a comprehensive re-design scheme for the Canadian National Railways earlier this year, the Director of Public Relations, Mr. C. A. Harris, said a 1959 survey by his department had revealed that the railways were felt by the public to be unprogressive and slow to improve performance and service; the existing modernisation scheme had, he said, been lying like an iceberg, mostly beneath the surface.

    1961 June, B. A. Haresnape, “Design on the railway: Part Four”, in Trains Illustrated, page 354
noununprogressive (plural unprogressives)

plural unprogressives

  1. A person whose views are not progressive.

    […] the unprogressives, the reactionaries, the unenlightened, who refuse to bow down to the god, Art.

    1909, Edwin Anderson Alderman, Joel Chandler Harris, Charles W. Kent, Library of Southern Literature: Biography, page 671

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveold-fashioned and out of date

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Englishprogressive
  9. Englishunprogressive

From un- + progressive.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with unprogressive

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

unprogressive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unprogressive

MLA

“unprogressive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unprogressive. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unprogressive,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unprogressive.

Source: unprogressive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.