adj.1 suffering action; acted upon.
2 offering no opposition; submissive.
3 a not active; inert. b (of a metal) abnormally unreactive.
4 Gram. designating the voice in which the subject undergoes the action of the verb (e.g. in they were killed).
5 (of a debt) incurring no interest payment.
Phrases and idioms:
passive obedience 1 surrender to another's will without cooperation.
2 compliance with commands irrespective of their nature. passive resistance a non-violent refusal to cooperate. passive smoking the involuntary inhaling, esp. by a non-smoker, of smoke from others' cigarettes etc.
Derivatives:
passively adv. passiveness n. passivity n.
Etymology: ME f. OF passif -ive or L passivus (as PASSION)