1
as in hostile
marked by opposition or ill will
classes that hopefully will change the negative attitude that some students have toward the recent immigrants
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Relevance
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2
as in unfavorable
opposed to one's interests
the almost universally negative reaction to the book
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1
as in veto
a vote or decision against something
in the absence of an unambiguous negative from the commander, we decided to continue on the mission
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2
as in opposite
something that is as different as possible from something else
the desire to control another person is actually the negative of real love
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3
as in disadvantage
a feature of someone or something that creates difficulty for achieving success
the main negative of this job is that I have to get up at 4:30 a.m.
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1
as in to dismiss
to reject by or as if by a vote
although the rebuttal was very eloquent, the jury negatived it in favor of the prosecution's argument we promptly negatived the idea of having pizza again for dinner, noting that we had already had it for three nights that week
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2
as in to deny
to declare not to be true
the governor's press secretary promptly negatived the rumor that he was not intending to run for reelection
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3
as in to reject
to show unwillingness to accept, do, engage in, or agree to
even though I had originally negatived the invitation, Mom thought I should go anyway
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4
as in to offset
to balance with an equal force so as to make ineffective
no amount of flattery is likely to negative that overheard insult
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5
as in to refuse
to be unwilling to grant
ultimately, we negatived the request for a personal loan
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Cite this Entry
“Negative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/negative. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.
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