adjective
- done to prevent something undesirable from happening; taking action before others can act
- relating to a military attack made to destroy an enemy’s capacity to attack first
Usage: military
Examples
- The company took preemptive action to avoid a lawsuit.
- She made a preemptive apology before announcing the bad news.
- The military launched a preemptive strike against enemy positions.
- Preemptive measures were put in place to prevent flooding.
- The CEO’s preemptive resignation surprised everyone.
- They installed security cameras as a preemptive defense against theft.
- The preemptive evacuation saved many lives before the hurricane hit.