passive

¹pas·sive

adj \ˈpa-siv\

Definition of PASSIVE

1

a (1) : acted upon by an external agency (2) : receptive to outside impressions or influences b (1) : asserting that the grammatical subject of a verb is subjected to or affected by the action represented by that verb <the passive voice> (2) : containing or yielding a passive verb form c (1) : lacking in energy or will : lethargic (2) : tending not to take an active or dominant part d : induced by an outside agency <passive exercise of a paralyzed leg>

2

a : not active or operating : inert b : of, relating to, or making direct use of the sun's heat usually without the intervention of mechanical devices <a passive solar house> c : latent d (1) : of, relating to, or characterized by a state of chemical inactivity; especially : resistant to corrosion (2) : not involving expenditure of chemical energy <passive transport across a cell membrane> e of an electronic element : exhibiting no gain or control f : relating to the detection of an object through its emission of energy or sound <passive sonar>

3

a : receiving or enduring without resistance : submissive b : existing or occurring without being active, open, or direct <passive support>

4

: of, relating to, or being business activity in which the investor does not actively participate in the generation of income

— pas·sive·ly adverb

— pas·sive·ness noun

— pas·siv·i·ty \pa-ˈsi-və-tē\ noun

Examples of PASSIVE

1. “Hits” in “She hits the ball” is active, while “hit” in “The ball was hit” is passive.
2. In “He was hit by the ball,” “hit” is a passive verb.
3. The destructive myth/legend of Herbert Hoover strikes again. The nation's 31st President has chronically been portrayed as passive in the face of the Great Depression and his successor, Franklin Roosevelt, as the exact opposite—an activist who, if he didn't actually cure the Depression, at least profoundly improved the nation's battered psychology. —Steve Forbes, Forbes, 30 June 2008
4. He believes that the time has come for Europeans to discard their passive role with respect to the United States and that Americans must be made to understand why. —Nicholas Fraser, Harper's, May 2006
5. Throughout the streets of Moscow last Wednesday, word of the ignominious flight of the Soviet Union's would-be junta brought a sense not of jubilation, but of quiet relief that a bloody civil war had been averted, and of satisfaction that the myth of the passive, obedient Russian people might be laid to rest. —Fred Hiatt, Washington Post, 26 Aug.-1 Sept. 1991

Origin of PASSIVE

Middle English, from Latin passivus, from passus, past participle

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to PASSIVE

Synonyms: acquiescent, nonresistant, resigned, tolerant, tolerating, unresistant, yielding

Antonyms: protesting, resistant, resisting, unyielding

Related Words: forbearing, impassive, long-suffering, patient, stoic (or stoical), uncomplaining; agreeable, amenable, compliant, complying, conformable, conformist, docile, guidable, law-abiding, obedient, pliable, pliant, subordinate, tractable, willing; obeisant, submissive, surrendering; amiable, obliging; slavish, subservient; disciplined, governable, manageable; apathetic, uncaring, unresponsive

Near Antonyms: defiant; contrary, contumacious, disobedient, froward, incompliant, insubordinate, insurgent, intractable, mutinous, rebellious, recalcitrant, refractory, restive, uncontrollable, ungovernable, unruly, untoward; balky, perverse, wayward, wrongheaded; headstrong, willful (or wilful); indomitable; undisciplined, unmanageable; dissident, nonconformist

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Rhymes with PASSIVE

massive