Characterized by aggression; tending to aggress; prone to begin a quarrel; making the first attack; offensive, as opposed to defensive: as, the minister pursued an aggressive foreign policy.Synonyms Aggressive, Offensive. Offensive is the direct opposite to defensive. Offensive warfare is that in which one is quick to give battle, as opportunity offers or can be made, and presses upon the enemy. Aggressive warfare is only secondarily of this sort; primarily it is a warfare prompted by the spirit of encroachment, the desire of conquest, plunder, etc. A war that is thus aggressive is naturally offensive at first, but may lose that character by the vigor of the resistance made; it then ceases to be thought of as aggressive. Hence aggressive has come to be often synonymous with offensive.