as in meekly
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Recent Examples of passively
That’s because many Americans passively invest their 401(k) and other retirement savings through index funds—large stock portfolios tied to indexes such as the S&P 500 or Nasdaq 100 designed to broadly track the market’s performance by pooling together the stocks of the biggest public companies.
—
Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 5 June 2026
Many researchers have theorized that melting Ice Age glaciers likely helped passively shift the Altar Stone closer to southern England’s Salisbury Plain around 2500 BCE, shortening the transport distance for Stonehenge’s creators.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 4 June 2026
Most robot hands that can actively close their fingers spring open passively.
—John Koetsier, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
Rather than providing medication, these states are more often choosing to monitor the miscarriage passively instead of intervening.
—Claire Zillman, Fortune, 28 May 2026
Essentially, the walls passively control moisture and temperature without relying on air conditioners and other active solutions.
—Stefan Ionescu
may 26, New Atlas, 26 May 2026
However, audiences do not always passively accept gender depiction in texts or visual media products.
—Tham Thi Nguyen, Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 May 2026
Published in the journal Innovation in Aging, the report suggested that those engaging passively with culture, by attending a performance or visiting a gallery, and those participating in the arts—for example, by painting, singing, or sculpting—benefited equally.
—News Desk, Artforum, 13 May 2026
Because what could be more depressing than just passively watching the world burn and melt and crumble?
—Literary Hub, 6 May 2026
Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 5 June 2026
Many researchers have theorized that melting Ice Age glaciers likely helped passively shift the Altar Stone closer to southern England’s Salisbury Plain around 2500 BCE, shortening the transport distance for Stonehenge’s creators.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 4 June 2026
Most robot hands that can actively close their fingers spring open passively.
—John Koetsier, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
Rather than providing medication, these states are more often choosing to monitor the miscarriage passively instead of intervening.
—Claire Zillman, Fortune, 28 May 2026
Essentially, the walls passively control moisture and temperature without relying on air conditioners and other active solutions.
—Stefan Ionescu
may 26, New Atlas, 26 May 2026
However, audiences do not always passively accept gender depiction in texts or visual media products.
—Tham Thi Nguyen, Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 May 2026
Published in the journal Innovation in Aging, the report suggested that those engaging passively with culture, by attending a performance or visiting a gallery, and those participating in the arts—for example, by painting, singing, or sculpting—benefited equally.
—News Desk, Artforum, 13 May 2026
Because what could be more depressing than just passively watching the world burn and melt and crumble?
—Literary Hub, 6 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for passively
Adverb
-
Whether a man chose to use that pistol or meekly give up the money to a robber was up to him.—
Richard Selcer,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
25 Apr. 2026
-
That was checkmate, as Martinez grounded out meekly to end the season.—
Tyler Kepner,
New York Times,
4 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
Once the players returned to the field, Diaz inexplicably tried a Panenka-style chip and his weak penalty sailed tamely into the arms of Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
18 Jan. 2026
-
Dominik Szoboszlai had just squandered a golden chance by firing tamely into the arms of Emiliano Martinez after winning the ball back high up the field when the Kop parked their frustration and vocally declared their unwavering faith in the Dutchman.—
James Pearce,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
Adverb
-
Name your value, then stand calmly by it.—
Tarot.com,
Hartford Courant,
29 May 2026
-
His sense of crafting anecdotes into top-tier material and knowing how to use his sweet-molasses pacing to calmly detonate a joke is damn near peerless.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
28 May 2026
Adverb
-
Nature is no big deal in Cristian Mungiu‘s superb new drama of systemic order and individual disarray, which takes in the sprawling waters and monochrome mountainscapes of the region with a placidly appreciative eye.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
18 May 2026
-
That sequence also introduces a placidly smiley Kylie Jenner playing herself on seemingly a Valium-Adderall speedball of deluded bounciness.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
24 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
At Elkhorn Ranch, the foundation of Roosevelt's cabin lies peacefully under tall cottonwoods.—
Julia Sayers Gokhale,
Midwest Living,
1 June 2026
-
His family said in a statement that Berry died peacefully at home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, surrounded by family, including his wife of 65 years, Sally.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
1 June 2026
Adverb
-
How to Eat Soursop The mildly sweet and tangy flavor of soursop is delicious in recipes.—
Kirsten Nunez,
Martha Stewart,
28 May 2026
-
Blueberries are sweeter, with a mildly tart taste.—
Julie Marks,
Verywell Health,
25 May 2026
Adverb
-
Unlike the coolly impassive Pop artists, the Who weren’t afraid to get personal, or to let their art echo the anxious, kinky, maladjusted yammering in their own heads.—
Jeremy Lybarger,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
-
The bezel round the screen is extremely narrow too, while the rear panel features a flat back and a side structure that coolly creates the impression of being created from a series of separate layers.—
John Archer,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2026
Adverb
-
Perhaps, but Alonso’s attentive gaze reworks the meaning of excitement such that a banal exchange with the nearby farmhand, and a drive into the nearby village, provide minor thrills — that is, if you’re properly settled onto Alonso’s serenely sluggish wavelength.—
Beatrice Loayza,
Variety,
16 May 2026
-
One of the spaces is serenely accented in all white and features rounded paneling that can open or close depending on the client’s preference for privacy.—
Paige Reddinger,
Robb Report,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Passively.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/passively. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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