passive-aggressive

adjective

pas·​sive-ag·​gres·​sive ˈpa-siv-ə-ˈgre-siv 

: being, marked by, or displaying behavior characterized by the expression of negative feelings, resentment, and aggression in an unassertive passive way (as through procrastination and stubbornness)

It is passive-aggressive behavior, the donning of a mask of amiability that conceals raw antagonism toward one's competitors, even one's friends.

—Hilary De Vries

A passive-aggressive manager eschews open hostilities, in part because he feels distinctly uncomfortable with them.

—Walter Kiechel III

passive-aggressive noun

Examples of passive-aggressive in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Though the titular beef is among coworkers at a Southern California country club, rather than strangers who take a road-rage incident too far, resulting in a much more passive-aggressive style of confrontation and rivalries that feel a bit more reasonable, at least at the start. —Elaina Patton, IndieWire, 17 Apr. 2026

Alongside Beef, there’s plenty more animosity to go around, from whatever the hell is going on in [checks notes] Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (which does NOT star Brendan Fraser) to the passive-aggressive Olympics in Roommates. —Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 17 Apr. 2026

Having set Coel’s grudge-nurturing immovable object and Hathaway’s in-crisis irresistible force on a collision course, the film proceeds to let the former batter the latter with a mix of acidic banter, passive-aggressive comments masked as curiosity, and compli-sults that cut bone. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 14 Apr. 2026

As a result, vaguebooking becomes a passive-aggressive pacifier to soothe the discomfort of explicitly addressing disagreements and communicating one’s feelings. —Charles Trepany, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1945, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for passive-aggressive

• immunosuppressive
• aggressive
• compressive
• concessive
• depressive
• excessive
• expressive
• impressive
• obsessive
• oppressive
• possessive
• progressive

Medical Definition

passive-aggressive

1 of 2 adjective

: being, marked by, or displaying behavior characterized by expression of negative feelings, resentment, and aggression in an unassertive way (as through procrastination, stubbornness, and unwillingness to communicate)

a passive-aggressive personality

passive-aggressively adverb

passive-aggressive

2 of 2 noun

: a passive-aggressive individual