PASSIVE


Meaning of PASSIVE in English

1.

If you describe someone as ~, you mean that they do not take action but instead let things happen to them.

His ~ attitude made things easier for me...

? active

ADJ disapproval

~ly

He sat there ~ly, content to wait for his father to make the opening move.

ADV: usu ADV with v

passivity

...the passivity of the public under the military occupation.

N-UNCOUNT

2.

A ~ activity involves watching, looking at, or listening to things rather than doing things.

They want less ~ ways of filling their time.

? active

ADJ: ADJ n

3.

Passive resistance involves showing opposition to the people in power in your country by not co-operating with them and protesting in non-violent ways.

They made it clear that they would only exercise ~ resistance in the event of a military takeover.

? active

ADJ: ADJ n

4.

In grammar, the ~ or the ~ voice is formed using ‘be’ and the past participle of a verb. The subject of a ~ clause does not perform the action expressed by the verb but is affected by it. For example, in ‘He’s been murdered’, the verb is in the ~. Compare active .

N-SING: the N

Collins COBUILD.      Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) .