leapfrogger
Backs become springboards
A leapfrogger is someone or something that leaps over others to advance position.
The word derives from the children's game where players vault over each other's backs.
In business and technology contexts, a leapfrogger bypasses intermediate stages of development: Developing nations became leapfroggers, skipping landlines entirely for mobile phones.
The term suggests competitive advancement through strategic jumps rather than incremental progress.
Pullover or pinafore dress
- hopperTapered dispensing container
- playerGame participant
- playgroundChildren's outdoor recreation space
- crouchingBending low, knees bent
vaulting · children · recess · schoolyard · spring · bound · playmate · outdoor
One who passes another
- bypasserOne who avoids directly
- disruptorOne who overturns norms
- innovatorCreator of new methods
- latecomerPerson arriving past time
catch-up · industrialization · advancement · shortcut · acceleration · modernization · infrastructure · adoption
jumper
Pullover or pinafore dress
- hopperTapered dispensing container
- playerGame participant
- playgroundChildren's outdoor recreation space
crouching · vaulting · children · recess · schoolyard · spring · bound · playmate · outdoor · squat
overtaker
One who passes another
latecomer · catch-up · industrialization · advancement · shortcut · acceleration · modernization · infrastructure · adoption · wireless
climber
One who scales
- ambitiousStrongly desiring achievement
- networkerOne who cultivates contacts
- moverOne who transports belongings
ascender · corporate · ladder · hierarchy · advancement · rival · peer · overtaker · position · rank
leapfroggerstraggler
One who lags behind
laggard · incrementalist · gradualist · latecomer · follower