passive
pronunciation
How to pronounce passive in British English:
UK [ˈpæsɪv]
How to pronounce passive in American English:
US [ˈpæsɪv]
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- Noun:
- 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
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- Adjective:
- lacking in energy or will
- peacefully resistant in response to injustice
- expressing thatthe subject of the sentence is the patient of the action denoted by the verb
Word Origin
- passive (adj.)
- late 14c., in grammatical sense (opposed to active), Old French passif "suffering, undergoing hardship" (14c.) and directly from Latin passivus "capable of feeling or suffering," from pass-, past participle stem of pati "to suffer" (see passion). Meaning "not active" is first recorded late 15c.; sense of "enduring suffering without resistance" is from 1620s. Related: Passively. Passive resistance first attested 1819 in Scott's "Ivanhoe," used throughout 19c.; re-coined by Gandhi c. 1906 in South Africa. Passive-aggressive with reference to behavior is attested by 1971.
Synonym
Antonym
Example
- 1. She didn 't like this passive indonesian female caricature .
- 2. Pictures of hunger usually show passive eyes and swollen bellies .
- 3. It cannot be regarded as passive if you are actively running your website and maintaining it and its information .
- 4. Passive houses use no solar , geothermal or wind energy equipment .
- 5. Taipei 101 , built in 2004 and standing 509 metres tall , uses a passive damper .