English Explanatory Dictionary

passive

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Being subjected to an action without producing a reaction.
  2. Taking no action.
  3. Being in the passive voice.
  4. Being inactive and submissive in a relationship, especially in a sexual one.
  5. Not participating in management.
  6. Without motive power.
  7. Of a component: that consumes but does not produce energy, or is incapable of power gain.
  8. Where allowance is made for a possible future event.
noun
  1. The passive voice of verbs.
  2. A form of a verb that is in the passive voice.
  3. A customer who is satisfied with a product or service, but not keen enough to promote it by word of mouth.
  4. Any component that consumes but does not produce energy, or is incapable of power gain.
  5. Ellipsis of passive attack.
  6. A thing whose worth decreases with time.

Pronunciation

păsʹ-ĭv /ˈpæs.ɪv/ en-us-passive.ogg

Word forms

passive more passive most passive passives

Etymology

From Middle English passyf, passyve, from Middle French, French passif, from Latin passivus (“serving to express the suffering of an action; in late Latin literally capable of suffering or feeling”), from passus, past participle of pati (“to suffer”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”); compare patient.

Synonyms

disinterested uninvolved idle inactive abeyant at rest cessant dormant dull fallow inert languid latent nonactive passive quiescent silent sedent sedentary slow suspended torpid unactive unbusy unemployed unoccupied compliant pliant submissive amenable biddable complaisant controllable docile governable indulgent manageable maniable meek rulable tractable yielding

Antonyms

active abuzz agile airy alive animate animated brisk busy busy as a bee buxom buzzing diligent driven driving dynamic eager effervescent energetic enthusiastic expeditious frisky gay genki glowing happy hearty impetuous industrious keen kinetic lively merry mobile motivated moving nimble peppy perky restive sassy snappy spirited sprightly sprunt spry vibrant vigorous vivacious vivid wanton youthful zealous zestful zippy aggressive dominant

Related words

passion passionate patience patient

Derived words

activo-passive antipassive endopassive exopassive interpassive long passive mediopassive neutropassive nonpassive paggro passifan passival passivate passivation passive-aggressive passive aggressor passive armour passive box passive defense passive-dependent passive euthanasia passive gravitational mass passive immunity passive income passive investor passive iron passive learning passively passive matrix passiveness passive participle passive photolocation passive radar passive resistance passive resister passive restraint passive smoke passive smoker passive smoking passive solar passive speaker passive suffrage passive vape passive vaper passive vaping passive vaporing passive vapouring passive vocabulary passive voice passivise passivism passivist passivistic passivity passivization passivize pseudo-passive pseudopassive transpassive unpassive

Translations

Aramaic: ܚܵܫܘܿܫܵܐ Belarusian: пасы́ўны Bulgarian: паси́вен Catalan: passiu Chinese Mandarin: 消極 /消极 Chinese Mandarin: 被動 /被动 Czech: pasivní Dutch: passief Estonian: loid Finnish: passiivinen French: passif German: passiv German: unterwürfig Ancient Greek: παθητικός Hindi: निष्क्रिय Hungarian: passzív Italian: passivo Japanese: 受動的 Japanese: 受け身 Lithuanian: pasyvus Middle English: passyf Old English: þrowiendlīċ Persian: منفعل Persian: پاسیو Polish: bierny Portuguese: passivo Romanian: pasiv Russian: пасси́вный Slovak: pasívny Spanish: pasivo Swedish: passiv Ukrainian: паси́вний Vietnamese: bị động Navajo: hoołtsoodii Turkish: pasif
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