passive resistance

noun

: resistance especially to a government or an occupying power characterized mainly by noncooperation

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web The group’s fliers, quoting from Goethe, Schiller, Aristotle, Lao Tzu and the Bible, urged passive resistance and sabotage of the Nazi project. —

Alan Cowell, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2023 Some people tend to perceive new technology and changed processes as a threat to their status quo and subsequently push back or engage in passive resistance. —

Peter Bendor-samuel, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2022 This is actually one of the themes of the book – that nonviolent resistance is not passive resistance. —

Anna Mulrine Grobe, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Oct. 2022 People made a choice between, basically, going into exile or passive resistance on the one hand and going to jail on the other. —

Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2022 Bringing this up elicits a lot of anger or passive resistance. —

Amy Dickinson, Chicago Tribune, 7 Sep. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'passive resistance.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1779, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of passive resistance was in 1779

See more words from the same year

Dictionary Entries Near passive resistance

passive obedience

passive resistance

passive resister

See More Nearby Entries

Cite this Entry

Style

“Passive resistance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/passive%20resistance. Accessed 30 May. 2023.

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