NEGATIVE


Meaning of NEGATIVE in English

I. neg ‧ a ‧ tive 1 S2 W2 AC /ˈneɡətɪv/ BrE AmE adjective

1 . BAD harmful, unpleasant, or not wanted OPP positive :

My drinking was starting to have a negative effect on my work.

the negative aspects of ageing

On the negative side, it will cost a lot.

2 . NOT LIKING SOMEBODY/SOMETHING considering only the bad qualities of a situation, person etc and not the good ones OPP positive :

students with a negative attitude to school

They have a uniformly negative image of the police.

Jean rarely sounded so negative about her mother.

3 . NO/NOT

a) saying or meaning ‘no’

negative answer/reply/response

He gave a negative answer without any explanation.

b) containing one of the words ‘no’, ‘not’, ‘nothing’, ‘never’ etc OPP affirmative

4 . SCIENTIFIC TEST not showing any sign of the chemical or medical condition that was being looked for OPP positive :

The pregnancy test was negative.

A person can be recently infected by HIV and have a negative result.

5 . ELECTRICITY technical a negative ↑ charge is carried by ↑ electron s OPP positive

6 . NUMBER/QUANTITY less than zero SYN minus OPP positive :

negative numbers

a negative return on our investment (=a loss)

7 . BLOOD technical used in the names of blood types, meaning not having the ↑ Rhesus factor OPP positive

—negatively adverb

II. negative 2 AC BrE AmE noun [countable]

1 . an image on a photographic film that shows dark areas as light and light areas as dark, from which the final picture is printed:

black and white photographic negatives

2 . a statement or expression that means ‘no’ OPP affirmative

answer/reply in the negative formal (=say 'no')

The majority of people, when asked whether or not they are creative, will reply in the negative.

3 . something bad or harmful OPP positive :

The negatives outweigh the positives on this issue.

4 . a negative result from a chemical or scientific test OPP positive :

The test will give a proportion of false negatives.

III. negative 3 BrE AmE verb [transitive] formal

1 . to refuse to accept a proposal or request

2 . to prove something to be untrue

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.