passivity

noun

pas·​siv·​i·​ty pa-ˈsi-və-tē 

1

: the quality or state of being passive : passiveness

The only thing that I find more depressing than this charlatan is the passivity of the museum-goers who pass before his works: they may have an inkling that they are being had, but they are unable to trust the evidence of their eyes.

—Jed Perl

… and now she was condemned to years of genteel English poverty by a passivity stubborn as low-grade fever.

—Vivian Gornick

The implication—that American policy makers had, out of some combination of timorous passivity and treasonous perfidy, lost China to Communism—set off one of the darkest-ever turns in American civic life.

—Daniel Kurtz-Phelan

2

chemistry : a chemically inactive state

—used especially of a metal that has lost its normal chemical activity and is resistant to corrosion

The lower limit of 11% is based on the markedly increased corrosion resistance and spontaneous passivity obtained at this level.

—Donald H. DeClerck et al.

Examples of passivity in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Instead, the Captain’s countenance oscillates between passivity and pathos, with none of the shrewd intellect expected of a spy. —Terry Nguyen, Vulture, 5 May 2024

The Purim story is one of stunning reversals, none more consequential than Esther’s transition from passivity to action. —Todd Pittinsky, New York Daily News, 23 Mar. 2024

The fact that two of the hijackers were Emirati citizens was a rude awakening, showing that passivity had allowed other actors—including Islamist extremists—to operate within the UAE’s borders. —Neil Quilliam, Foreign Affairs, 29 Dec. 2023

But even if some viewers might grow impatient with Simon’s passivity in the face of endless microaggressions, there’s enough tenderness, heart and ultimate self-realization in Solo to keep you watching. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1659, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

passivity

noun

pas·​siv·​i·​ty pa-ˈsiv-ət-ē 

plural passivities

: the quality or state of being passive or submissive