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Passive - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'Passive' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Passive [ a.]
- Not active, but acted upon; suffering or receiving impressions or influences; as, they were passive spectators, not actors in the scene.
- Receiving or enduring without either active sympathy or active resistance; without emotion or excitement; patient; not opposing; unresisting; as, passive obedience; passive submission.
- Inactive; inert; not showing strong affinity; as, red phosphorus is comparatively passive.
- Designating certain morbid conditions, as hemorrhage or dropsy, characterized by relaxation of the vessels and tissues, with deficient vitality and lack of reaction in the affected tissues.

Meaning of 'Passive' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . passive [ n]
Meaning (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
Example in sentence:
  • `The ball was thrown by the boy' uses the passive voice;
  • `The ball was thrown' is an abbreviated passive
2 . passive [ a]
Meaning (2):
- expressing that the subject of the sentence is the patient of the action denoted by the verb
Example in sentence:
  • academics seem to favor passive sentences
Meaning (3):
- lacking in energy or will
Example in sentence:
  • Much benevolence of the passive order may be traced to a disinclination to inflict pain upon oneself
4 . passive [ s]
Meaning (4):
- peacefully resistant in response to injustice
Example in sentence:
  • passive resistance

Nearby Words:

pas pasan pasch pascha paschal paseng pash pasha pashalic pashaw

See 'Passive' also in:

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