Word.ws English Dictionary

seize the initiative

seize the initiative is the alternative form of take the initiative.

Meaning of take the initiative

Verb

take the initiative (third-person singular simple present takes the initiative, present participle taking the initiative, simple past took the initiative, past participle taken the initiative)

  1. (idiomatic) to take action first or on one's own; to make the first move

Forms of seize the initiative

third-person singular presentseizes the initiative
present participleseizing the initiative
past participleseized the initiative
pastseized the initiative

Questions about seize the initiative

What is seize the initiative the alternative form of?
Seize the initiative is the alternative form of take the initiative.

Words near seize the initiative in the dictionary

  1. seizable
  2. seize
  3. seize on
  4. seize out
  5. seize the day
  6. seize the initiative
  7. seize the opportunity
  8. seize up
  9. seize upon
  10. seize-up
  11. seized

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: seize the initiative (page history and authors); take the initiative (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “seize the initiative.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/seize_the_initiative. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.