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