'Passive' definitions:
Definition of 'passive'
(from WordNet)
adjective
Lacking in energy or will; "Much benevolence of the passive order may be traced to a disinclination to inflict pain upon oneself"- George Meredith [syn: passive, inactive] [ant: active]
adjective
Peacefully resistant in response to injustice; "passive resistance" [syn: passive, peaceful]
adjective
Expressing that the subject of the sentence is the patient of the action denoted by the verb; "academics seem to favor passive sentences" [ant: active]
noun
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" [syn: passive voice, passive] [ant: active, active voice]
Definition of 'Passive'
From: GCIDE
- Passive \Pas"sive\, a. [L. passivus: cf. F. passif. See Passion.]
- 1. Not active, but acted upon; suffering or receiving impressions or influences; as, they were passive spectators, not actors in the scene. [1913 Webster]
- The passive air Upbore their nimble tread. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
- The mind is wholly passive in the reception of all its simple ideas. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Receiving or enduring without either active sympathy or active resistance; without emotion or excitement; patient; not opposing; unresisting; as, passive obedience; passive submission. [1913 Webster]
- The best virtue, passive fortitude. --Massinger. [1913 Webster]
- 3. (Chem.) Inactive; inert; unreactive; not showing strong affinity; as, red phosphorus is comparatively passive. [1913 Webster]
- 4. (Med.) 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. [1913 Webster]
- Passive congestion (Med.), congestion due to obstruction to the return of the blood from the affected part.
- Passive iron (Chem.), iron which has been subjected to the action of heat, of strong nitric acid, chlorine, etc. It is then not easily acted upon by acids.
- Passive movement (Med.), a movement of a part, in order to exercise it, made without the assistance of the muscles which ordinarily move the part.
- Passive obedience (as used by writers on government), obedience or submission of the subject or citizen as a duty in all cases to the existing government.
- Passive prayer, among mystic divines, a suspension of the activity of the soul or intellectual faculties, the soul remaining quiet, and yielding only to the impulses of grace.
- Passive verb, or Passive voice (Gram.), a verb, or form of a verb, which expresses the effect of the action of some agent; as, in Latin, doceor, I am taught; in English, she is loved; the picture is admired by all; he is assailed by slander. [1913 Webster]
- Syn: Inactive; inert; quiescent; unresisting; unopposing; suffering; enduring; submissive; patient. [1913 Webster] Passive balloon
Synonyms of 'passive'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abeyant,
- abject,
- accepting,
- accommodating,
- acquiescent,
- active,
- active voice,
- adapting,
- adaptive,
- adjusting,
- agreeable,
- aloof,
- amenable,
- apathetic,
- asleep,
- assenting,
- bearing,
- benumbed,
- blah,
- blank,
- blankminded,
- blase,
- bovine,
- calm,
- cataleptic,
- catatonic,
- centrist,
- comatose,
- complaisant,
- compliable,
- compliant,
- complying,
- consenting,
- contemplative,
- cool,
- dead,
- deferential,
- desensitized,
- detached,
- disinterested,
- dispassionate,
- do-nothing,
- docile,
- dopey,
- dormant,
- dull,
- empty,
- empty-headed,
- enduring,
- even,
- fatuous,
- fifty-fifty,
- flat,
- flexible,
- forbearing,
- foul,
- gentle,
- groggy,
- half-and-half,
- heartless,
- heavy,
- hebetudinous,
- hopeless,
- humble,
- idle,
- immobile,
- impartial,
- impassive,
- imperturbable,
- implicit,
- in a stupor,
- in abeyance,
- in suspense,
- inactive,
- inane,
- incogitant,
- independent,
- indifferent,
- inert,
- insouciant,
- laissez-aller,
- laissez-faire,
- lamblike,
- languid,
- languorous,
- Laodicean,
- latent,
- leaden,
- lethargic,
- lifeless,
- listless,
- logy,
- long-suffering,
- malleable,
- medio-passive,
- meditative,
- meek,
- middle,
- middle voice,
- midway,
- moderate,
- motionless,
- neuter,
- neutral,
- nirvanic,
- nonaligned,
- nonchalant,
- noncommitted,
- nondissenting,
- nonpartisan,
- nonresistant,
- nonresisting,
- nonresistive,
- nonviolent,
- numb,
- numbed,
- obedient,
- oblivious,
- Olympian,
- on the fence,
- out of it,
- ovine,
- paralytic,
- paralyzed,
- passive voice,
- patient,
- phlegmatic,
- placid,
- pliable,
- pluckless,
- procrastinating,
- quiescent,
- quiet,
- quietist,
- quietistic,
- receptive,
- reconciled,
- reflexive,
- relaxed,
- repressed,
- resigned,
- sedentary,
- serene,
- servile,
- sheepish,
- slack,
- sleeping,
- sleepy,
- sluggish,
- slumbering,
- smoldering,
- soporific,
- spiritless,
- spunkless,
- stagnant,
- stagnating,
- standing,
- standpat,
- static,
- stationary,
- still,
- stoic,
- stolid,
- stupefied,
- subdued,
- submissive,
- subservient,
- supine,
- suspended,
- tacit,
- tame,
- third-force,
- third-world,
- thoughtfree,
- thoughtless,
- tolerant,
- torpid,
- tractable,
- tranquil,
- unaffected,
- unaroused,
- unassertive,
- uncaring,
- uncommitted,
- uncomplaining,
- unconcerned,
- undisclosed,
- unexpressed,
- unideaed,
- unintellectual,
- uninterested,
- uninvolved,
- unmoved,
- unmoving,
- unoccupied,
- unperturbed,
- unreasoning,
- unresistant,
- unresisting,
- unresponsive,
- unrevealed,
- unshaken,
- unthinking,
- untouched,
- vacant,
- vacuous,
- vegetable,
- vegetative,
- voice,
- withdrawn,
- yielding
Words containing 'Passive'
- Passively,
- Passiveness,
- Passivity,
- passivism,
- Passive aeroplane,
- Passive balloon,
- Passive congestion,
- Passive flight,
- Passive hyperaemia,
- Passive iron,
- Passive movement,
- Passive obedience,
- Passive prayer,
- Passive verb,
- Passive voice,
- passive immunity,
- passive power,
- passive resistance,
- passive resister,
- passive source,
- passive transport,
- passive trust,
- passive air defense,
- passive matrix display