passive — pas·sive / pa siv/ adj: not involving, deriving from, or requiring effort or active participation imposed a passive duty not to interfere; specif: of, relating to, or being business activity in which the investor does not have immediate control… … Law dictionary
Passive — Pas sive, a. [L. passivus: cf. F. passif. See {Passion}.] 1. Not active, but acted upon; suffering or receiving impressions or influences; as, they were passive spectators, not actors in the scene. [1913 Webster] The passive air Upbore their… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
passive — 1. The passive voice is illustrated by the sentence Brazil were beaten by France in the final, in which the object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb and the subject is expressed as an agent introduced by the preposition… … Modern English usage
passive — [pas′iv] adj. [ME passif < L passivus < passus: see PASSION] 1. influenced or acted upon without exerting influence or acting in return; inactive, but acted upon 2. offering no opposition or resistance; submissive; yielding; patient 3.… … English World dictionary
passive — (adj.) late 14c., in grammatical sense (opposed to active), from L. passivus capable of feeling or suffering, from pass , pp. stem of pati to suffer (see PASSION (Cf. passion)). Meaning not active is first recorded late 15c. Passive resistance… … Etymology dictionary
passive — ► ADJECTIVE 1) accepting or allowing what happens or what others do, without active response or resistance. 2) Grammar (of verbs) in which the subject undergoes the action of the verb (e.g. they were killed as opposed to the active form he killed … English terms dictionary
passive — inactive, inert, idle, supine Analogous words: impassive, phlegmatic, stolid, apathetic Antonyms: active Contrasted words: live, operative, dynamic (see ACTIVE) … New Dictionary of Synonyms
passive — [adj] lifeless, inactive acquiescent, apathetic, asleep, bearing, compliant, cool, docile, enduring, flat, forbearing, going through motions*, hands off*, idle, indifferent, inert, laid back*, latent, long suffering, moony, motionless,… … New thesaurus
passive — As used in law, this term means inactive; permissive; consisting in endurance or submission, rather than action; and in some connections it carries the implication of being subjected to a burden or charge. As to passive debt passive negligence… … Black's law dictionary
passive — [[t]pæ̱sɪv[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED (disapproval) If you describe someone as passive, you mean that they do not take action but instead let things happen to them. His passive attitude made things easier for me... Even passive acceptance of the regime… … English dictionary
