initiative is on the Academic Word List.
- (uncountable) If you have or take the initiative, you are in control and can decide what to do next.
- It's good to see someone take the initiative and start doing something about this problem.
- It appears that the army was acting on its own initiative and not on orders from the president.
- (uncountable) If you have initiative, you do things without needing to be told to do them.
- We're looking to hire somebody with initiative because I won't be able to supervise them much.
- (countable) An initiative is an effort to start doing something to solve a problem.
- The town has no new initiatives to deal with garbage.
