Negative vs. Passive: What's the Difference?
Negative and Passive Definitions
Negative
Expressing, containing, or consisting of a negation, refusal, or denial
Gave a negative answer to our request.
Passive
Receiving or subjected to an action without responding or initiating an action in return
The mind viewed as a passive receptacle for sensory experience.
Negative
Indicating opposition or resistance
A negative reaction to the new advertising campaign.
Passive
Accepting or submitting without objection or resistance; submissive
A passive acceptance of one's fate.
Negative
Unpleasant; disagreeable
Had a negative experience on his first job.
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Passive
Existing, conducted, or experienced without active or concerted effort
“Although tick paralysis is a reportable disease in Washington, surveillance is passive, and only 10 cases were reported during 1987–1995” (US Department of Health and Human Services). “[Many parents believe] that computers are educational and, at the least, less passive than television” (Laurie Hays).
Negative
Gloomy; pessimistic
A negative outlook.
Passive
Of, relating to, or being certain bonds or shares that do not bear financial interest.
Negative
Unfavorable or detrimental
A negative review.
A negative effect on the child's development.
Passive
Of, relating to, or being a solar heating or cooling system that uses no external mechanical power.
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Negative
Hostile or disparaging; malicious
Ran a negative campaign against her opponent.
Passive
(Grammar) Of, relating to, or being a verb form or voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject is the object of the action or the effect of the verb. For example, in the sentence They were impressed by his manner, were impressed is in the passive voice.
Negative
(Medicine) Not indicating the presence of a particular disease, condition, or organism.
Passive
(Chemistry) Unreactive except under special or extreme conditions; inert.
Negative
(Philosophy) Of or relating to non-being or the absence of qualities rather than being or the possession of qualities
The purely negative virtue of unselfishness.
Passive
(Electronics) Exhibiting no gain or contributing no energy
A passive circuit element.
Negative
(Logic) Designating a proposition that denies agreement between a subject and its predicate.
Passive
The passive voice.
Negative
Of or relating to a quantity less than zero.
Passive
A verb or construction in the passive voice.
Negative
Of or relating to the sign (−).
Passive
Being subjected to an action without producing a reaction.
Negative
Of or relating to a quantity to be subtracted from another.
Passive
Taking no action.
He remained passive during the protest.
Negative
Of or relating to a quantity, number, angle, velocity, or direction in a sense opposite to another of the same magnitude indicated or understood to be positive.
Passive
(grammar) Being in the passive voice.
Negative
Of or relating to an electric charge of the same sign as that of an electron, indicated by the symbol (−).
Passive
(psychology) Being inactive and submissive in a relationship, especially in a sexual one.
Negative
Of or relating to a body that has more electrons than protons.
Passive
(finance) Not participating in management.
Negative
(Chemistry) Of or relating to an ion, the anion, that is attracted to a positive electrode.
Passive
(aviation) Without motive power.
A passive balloon; a passive aeroplane; passive flight, such as gliding and soaring
Negative
(Biology) Moving or turning away from a stimulus, such as light
A negative tropism.
Passive
(electronics) Of a component: that consumes but does not produce energy, or is incapable of power gain.
Negative
A statement or act indicating or expressing a contradiction, denial, or refusal.
Passive
Where allowance is made for a possible future event.
Negative
A statement or act that is highly critical of another or of others
Campaign advertising that was based solely on negatives.
Passive
(grammar) The passive voice of verbs.
Negative
Something that lacks all positive, affirmative, or encouraging features; an element that is the counterpoint of the positive
“Life is full of overwhelming odds. You can't really eliminate the negatives but you can diminish them” (Art Linkletter).
Passive
(grammar) A form of a verb that is in the passive voice.
Negative
A feature or characteristic that is not deemed positive, affirmative, or desirable
“As voters get to know his liberal views, his negatives will rise” (Richard M. Nixon).
Passive
(marketing) A customer who is satisfied with a product or service, but not keen enough to promote it by word of mouth.
Negative
(Grammar) A word or part of a word, such as no, not, or non-, that indicates negation. See Usage Note at double negative.
Passive
(electronics) Any component that consumes but does not produce energy, or is incapable of power gain.
Negative
The side in a debate that contradicts or opposes the question being debated.
Passive
Not active, but acted upon; suffering or receiving impressions or influences; as, they were passive spectators, not actors in the scene.
The passive airUpbore their nimble tread.
The mind is wholly passive in the reception of all its simple ideas.
Negative
An image in which the light areas of the object rendered appear dark and the dark areas appear light. In a color negative, hues are also reversed so that each color is represented by its complementary color.
Passive
Receiving or enduring without either active sympathy or active resistance; without emotion or excitement; patient; not opposing; unresisting; as, passive obedience; passive submission.
The best virtue, passive fortitude.
Negative
A film, plate, or other photographic material containing such an image.
Passive
Inactive; inert; unreactive; not showing strong affinity; as, red phosphorus is comparatively passive.
Negative
(Mathematics) A negative quantity.
Passive
Designating certain morbid conditions, as hemorrhage or dropsy, characterized by relaxation of the vessels and tissues, with deficient vitality and lack of reaction in the affected tissues.
Negative
To refuse to approve; veto.
Passive
The voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb;
`The ball was thrown by the boy' uses the passive voice
`The ball was thrown' is an abbreviated passive
Negative
To deny; contradict.
Passive
Lacking in energy or will;
Much benevolence of the passive order may be traced to a disinclination to inflict pain upon oneself
Negative
To demonstrate to be false; disprove.
Passive
Peacefully resistant in response to injustice;
Passive resistance
Negative
To counteract or neutralize.
Passive
Expressing thatthe subject of the sentence is the patient of the action denoted by the verb;
Academics seem to favor passive sentences
Negative
Not positive nor neutral.
Negative
(physics) Of electrical charge of an electron and related particles
Negative
(mathematics) Of a number: less than zero
Negative
(weather) Less than zero degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit.
Negative
Denying a proposition.
Negative
Damaging; undesirable; unfavourable.
The high exchange rate will have a negative effect on our profits.
Customers didn’t like it: feedback was mostly negative.
Negative
Pessimistic; not tending to see the bright side of things.
I don’t like to hang around him very much because he can be so negative about his petty problems.
Negative
Of or relating to a photographic image in which the colours of the original, and the relations of left and right, are reversed.
Negative
(chemistry) Metalloidal, nonmetallic; contrasted with positive or basic.
The nitro group is negative.
Negative
Often preceded by emotion, energy, feeling, or thought: to be avoided, bad, difficult, disagreeable, painful, potentially damaging, unpleasant, unwanted.
Negative
Characterized by the presence of features which do not support a hypothesis.
Negative
(slang) HIV negative.
Negative
(slang) COVID-19 negative.
Negative
Refusal or withholding of assents; prohibition, veto
Negative
An unfavorable point or characteristic.
Negative
(law) A right of veto.
Negative
(photography) An image in which dark areas represent light ones, and the converse.
Negative
(grammar) A word that indicates negation.
Negative
(mathematics) A negative quantity.
Negative
(weightlifting) A repetition performed with a weight in which the muscle begins at maximum contraction and is slowly extended; a movement performed using only the eccentric phase of muscle movement.
Negative
The negative plate of a voltaic or electrolytic cell.
Negative
(transitive) To refuse; to veto.
Negative
(transitive) To contradict.
Negative
(transitive) To disprove.
Negative
(transitive) To make ineffective; to neutralize, to negate.
Negative
No; nay.
Negative
Denying; implying, containing, or asserting denial, negation or refusal; returning the answer no to an inquiry or request; refusing assent; as, a negative answer; a negative opinion; - opposed to affirmative.
If thou wilt confess,Or else be impudently negative.
Denying me any power of a negative voice.
Something between an affirmative bow and a negative shake.
Negative
Not positive; without affirmative statement or demonstration; indirect; consisting in the absence of something; privative; as, a negative argument; negative evidence; a negative morality; negative criticism.
There in another way of denying Christ, . . . which is negative, when we do not acknowledge and confess him.
Negative
Asserting absence of connection between a subject and a predicate; as, a negative proposition.
Negative
Of or pertaining to a picture upon glass or other material, in which the lights and shades of the original, and the relations of right and left, are reversed.
Negative
Metalloidal; nonmetallic; - contrasted with positive or basic; as, the nitro group is negative.
Negative
A proposition by which something is denied or forbidden; a conception or term formed by prefixing the negative particle to one which is positive; an opposite or contradictory term or conception.
This is a known rule in divinity, that there is no command that runs in negatives but couches under it a positive duty.
Negative
A word used in denial or refusal; as, not, no.
No wine ne drank she, neither white nor red.
These eyes that never did nor never shallSo much as frown on you.
Negative
The refusal or withholding of assents; veto.
If a kind without his kingdom be, in a civil sense, nothing, then . . . his negative is as good as nothing.
Negative
That side of a question which denies or refuses, or which is taken by an opposing or denying party; the relation or position of denial or opposition; as, the question was decided in the negative.
Negative
A picture upon glass or other material, in which the light portions of the original are represented in some opaque material (usually reduced silver), and the dark portions by the uncovered and transparent or semitransparent ground of the picture.
Negative
The negative plate of a voltaic or electrolytic cell.
Negative
To prove unreal or untrue; to disprove.
The omission or infrequency of such recitals does not negative the existence of miracles.
Negative
To reject by vote; to refuse to enact or sanction; as, the Senate negatived the bill.
Negative
To neutralize the force of; to counteract.
Negative
A reply of denial;
He answered in the negative
Negative
A piece of photographic film showing an image with black and white tones reversed
Negative
Vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent;
The President vetoed the bill
Negative
Characterized by or displaying negation or denial or opposition or resistance; having no positive features;
A negative outlook on life
A colorless negative personality
A negative evaluation
A negative reaction to an advertising campaign
A positive attitude
The reviews were all positive
A positive benefit
A positive demand
Negative
Reckoned in a direction opposite to that regarded as positive
Negative
Having a negative electric charge;
Electrons are negative
Protons are positive
Negative
Expressing or consisting of a negation or refusal or denial
Negative
Having the quality of something harmful or unpleasant;
Ran a negative campaign
Delinquents retarded by their negative outlook on life
Negative
Not indicating the presence of microorganisms or disease or a specific condition;
The HIV test was negative
Negative
Less than zero;
A negative number
Negative
Designed or tending to discredit, especially without positive or helpful suggestions;
Negative criticism
Negative
Involving disadvantage or harm;
Minus (or negative) factors
