PASSIVE
Dictionary entry overview: What does passive mean?
• PASSIVE (noun)
The noun PASSIVE has 1 sense:
1. the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb
Familiarity information: PASSIVE used as a noun is very rare.
• PASSIVE (adjective)
The adjective PASSIVE has 3 senses:
1. lacking in energy or will
2. peacefully resistant in response to injustice
3. expressing that the subject of the sentence is the patient of the action denoted by the verb
Familiarity information: PASSIVE used as an adjective is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
• PASSIVE (noun)
Meaning:
The voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb
Classified under:
Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas
Synonyms:
passive; passive voice
Context examples:
'The ball was thrown by the boy' uses the passive voice / 'The ball was thrown' is an abbreviated passive
Hypernyms ("passive" is a kind of...):
voice ((linguistics) the grammatical relation (active or passive) of the grammatical subject of a verb to the action that the verb denotes)
• PASSIVE (adjective)
Meaning:
Lacking in energy or will
Synonyms:
passive; inactive
Context example:
Much benevolence of the passive order may be traced to a disinclination to inflict pain upon oneself
Similar:
hands-off (not involving participation or intervention)
resistless; supine; unresisting (offering no resistance)
Attribute:
passiveness; passivity (the trait of remaining inactive; a lack of initiative)
Antonym:
active (disposed to take action or effectuate change)
Meaning:
Peacefully resistant in response to injustice
Synonyms:
passive; peaceful
Context example:
passive resistance
Similar:
nonviolent (abstaining (on principle) from the use of violence)
Meaning:
Expressing that the subject of the sentence is the patient of the action denoted by the verb
Context example:
academics seem to favor passive sentences
Domain category:
grammar (the branch of linguistics that deals with syntax and morphology (and sometimes also deals with semantics or morphology))
Antonym:
active (expressing that the subject of the sentence has the semantic function of actor:)
