Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use initiative in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun

Initiative means serving to initiate. Example: “Our taxes are being funnelled into pointless government initiatives.”

Examples of initiative by meaning

adjectiveIn which voter initiatives can be brought to the ballot.

  • The second row shows that initiative states fill more constitutional offices by election than noninitiative states, and the difference is statistically significant after controlling for region and population.a. 2008, John G. Matsusaka, "Direct Democracy and the Executive Branch", in, 2008, Shaun Bowler and Amihai Glazer, editors, Direct...

nounThe ability to act first or on one's own.

  • The theoretical source, or rather justification, of that machine was Lenin's conviction that the party, by virtue of its scientific knowledge of society, is the one legitimate source of political initiative.1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon...

More sentences with initiative

  • Our taxes are being funnelled into pointless government initiatives.From the entry funnel
  • After the third massive failure, John called the whole initiative.From the entry call
  • The government announced a new initiative to help the unemployed.From the entry unemployed
  • He is involved in social outreach, education and environmental initiatives.From the entry outreach
  • The government announced a new initiative to help the jobless.From the entry jobless
  • The new initiative is now on the go.From the entry on the go
  • At the same time, politics started spilling over into the philanthropic initiative.2025 June 28, Theodore Schleifer, Eli Tan, Mike Isaac, “Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan Narrow CZI’s Focus to Science Efforts”, in The…. From the entry philanthropic
  • Disempowered staff develop a 'sullen obedience' where they stop driving new initiatives and just await orders.2024 January 10, Chris Green, “Empowered...energised... and managing for success”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 22. From the entry deliver the goods
  • I have proposed five initiatives to support rail freight growth in the preceding paragraphs.2021 October 20, Michael Holden, “Time for action... and a new plan to develop rail freight”, in RAIL, number 942, page 39. From the entry earth-shattering
  • It was a front-foot display to take the initiative away from City in the first half.2021 May 29, Phil McNulty, “Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport. From the entry front-foot
  • For a long time, the initiative of teaching Silbo in school remained unique in the world.2015, Julien Meyer, Whistled Languages: A Worldwide Inquiry on Human Whistled Speech, Springer, →ISBN, page 65. From the entry Silbo
  • Following the advice of his generals, Chiang did take the initiative after the fall of Changchun.2014, Richard Bernstein, “From Hope to Antagonism”, in China 1945: Mao's Revolution and America's Fateful Choice, New York: Alfred A.…. From the entry Szepingkai
  • “There is no valid reason why they can’t join the initiative we have launched.2013 May 30, Steven Greenhouse, “U.S. Retailers Announce New Factory Safety Plan”, in New York Times, retrieved 03 Dec 2017. From the entry paddle one's own canoe
  • Ten million dollars of seed money could provide the necessary kick-start for the initiative.2010 September, Clarence Harmon, "Ideas from the Young", St. Louis magazine, ISSN 1090-5723, volume 16, issue 9, page 74. From the entry kick-start
  • What distinguishes these projects from faith-based initiatives of the Employment and Training Administration?2006, Senate Hearings Before the Committee on Appropriations. From the entry faith-based
  • Responsibilisation also promotes greater citizen involvement in community-based voluntary security initiatives like Neighbourhood Watch schemes.2006, Alan Bryden, Marina Caparini, Private Actors and Security Governance, →ISBN, page 266. From the entry responsibilisation
  • He can't stay on top of initiatives from people who report to him.2005 May 18, Liz Ryan, “No Sale? Don't Blame Your Boss”, in Businessweek, retrieved 25 May 2014. From the entry too many balls in the air
  • Bakke has shaped a precarious context for diversity initiatives in higher education.2003, Adalberto Aguirre, Racial and Ethnic Diversity in America: A Reference Handbook, page 72. From the entry diversity
  • Paul carefully safeguards the priority of divine initiative over human efforts to come into relationship with God.2002, Richard B[evan] Hays, “The God of Mercy Who Rescues Us from the Present Evil Age: Romans and Galatians”, in A. Andrew Das, Frank J.…. From the entry midsentence
  • One Clinton strategist grumbled that with so many initiatives in play, "We're worrying about Carterizing ourselves."2000, John P. Burke, Presidential Transitions: From Politics to Practice, page 348. From the entry Carterize
  • The blessing of private initiative for public affairs is destined to be appreciated more deeply.1999, Rupert Graf Strachwitz, “Foundations in Germany and Their Revival in East Germany after 1989”, in Helmut K. Anheier, Stefan Toepler…. From the entry endow
  • It seems that somewhere between a wet noodle and bold new initiative, we might have reality.1986, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Proposals on International Debt Crisis. From the entry wet noodle
  • And the whole of his life manifests his inner need to take initiative.1985, Paul M. Quay, The Christian Meaning of Human Sexuality, San Francisco, Calif.: Ignatius Press, →ISBN. From the entry sexuality
  • This Arab teacher clearly believed in the genuiness of the new initiative.1985 March 12, “How the Arab and the Jew can be friends”, in Peter Preston, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN…. From the entry genuiness
  • I disagreed completely—and still do—with President Nixon's initiative to "normalize" relations with the People's Republic of China.1980, Spiro Agnew, Go Quietly . . . Or Else, New York: William Morrow and Company, →ISBN, page 34. From the entry repudiate
  • Even now gay rights ordinances are in danger of being repealed by local and statewide initiatives.1974 February 2, Edward Sebesta, “Launching the Gay '80s: Gay Rights Under Siege In Santa Clara County”, in Gay Community News, volume 1…. From the entry anti-gay
  • His one act is belly-oriented, and it is an act of quiescence, not of initiative.1973, Phyllis Trible, “Depatriarchalizing in Biblical Interpretation”, in Journal of the American Academy of Religion, volume 41, number…. From the entry quiescence
  • He repudiates all forms of human initiative or cooperation in creating the Christian experience.1970, José C. Nieto, Juan de Valdés and the origins of the Spanish and Italian reformation. From the entry disenamor
  • Paternalism leads to dependency, to lack of initiative, to lack of self-assertiveness.1920, Desmos of Delta Sigma Delta, page 226. From the entry big brotherism
  • Initiative is the ability possessed by one person to lay out work for another.1915, Transactions of the Panama Pacific Dental Congress, volume 3, page 312. From the entry initiatee
  • This initiative ensures our roads are safer for American families."2025 November 14, Sam Stevenson, “California To Revoke Thousands of Driver’s Licenses”, in Newsweek. From the entry urge
  • The most ambitious initiative is a European-wide “drone wall” that can detect, jam and destroy Russian aerial vehicles.2025 November 17, Fred Harter, “Mysterious drone sightings are causing alarm across Europe”, in The Observer, The Sensemaker. From the entry drone wall
  • It's a citizen's initiative that will do two things.2024 October 15, Samantha Wright, “Idaho Elections: How Prop 1 might change our voting system”, in Boise State Public Radio. From the entry proposition
  • Quiet hiring, coupled with robust upskilling initiatives, offers a sustainable solution to bridging the skills gap and ensuring long-term success.2024 May 1, René Janssen, “'Quiet hiring' is silently revolutionising the workplace”, in Euronews, archived from the original on 06 May 2024. From the entry quiet hiring
  • Ops wanted some initiative, blew up their entire quadrant.2023, PLUMMCORP RECORDS, 02:45 from the start, in dracula flow 3 (comedy). From the entry quadrant
  • An organizational decision to pursue the goal of greater neuroinclusion, like any business initiative, inevitably requires a business case.2023, Ed Thompson, A Hidden Force: Unlocking the Potential of Neurodiversity at Work, page. From the entry neuroinclusion
  • In emailed comments supporting the new initiative, the laureate professor Noam Chomsky said: “Humans are marching towards a precipice.2022 September 14, Arthur Neslen, quoting Noam Chomsky, “Health groups call for global fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty”, in The…. From the entry precipice
  • The number of initiatives on artificial intelligence (AI) has decupled in the last five years in Turkey, an expert has said.2022 May 16, “AI initiatives in Turkey decupled in 5 years: Expert”, in Hürriyet Daily News. From the entry decuple

Meaning of initiative

  1. adjective Serving to initiate.
  2. adjective In which voter initiatives can be brought to the ballot.
  3. noun A beginning; a first move.

Full definition of initiative

Questions about initiative in a sentence

How do you use initiative in a sentence?
Initiative is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “Our taxes are being funnelled into pointless government initiatives.”
What is a short sentence with initiative?
“The new initiative is now on the go.”
What does initiative mean?
Initiative means serving to initiate.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: initiative (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use initiative in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/initiative. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.