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positive
[poz-i-tiv]
adjective
explicitly stated, stipulated, or expressed.
a positive acceptance of the agreement.
Synonyms: , , , ,Antonyms:admitting of no question.
positive proof.
Synonyms: ,Antonyms:stated; express; emphatic.
a positive denial.
confident in opinion or assertion; fully assured.
He is positive that he will win the contest.
Synonyms:Antonyms: ,overconfident or dogmatic.
The less he knows, the more positive he gets.
without relation to or comparison with other things; not relative or comparative; absolute.
Informal.downright; out-and-out.
She's a positive genius.
determined by enactment or convention; arbitrarily laid down.
positive law.
emphasizing what is laudable, hopeful, or to the good; constructive.
a positive attitude toward the future; positive things to say about a painting.
encouraging or noting a healthy or balanced outlook toward something, especially toward sex and sexuality (used in combination): the body-positive movement;
sex-positive attitudes;
the body-positive movement;
a gay-positive movie.
not speculative or theoretical; practical.
a positive approach to the problem.
possessing an actual force, being, existence, etc.
Philosophy.
constructive and sure, rather than skeptical.
concerned with or based on matters of experience.
positive philosophy.
showing or expressing approval or agreement; favorable.
a positive reaction to the speech.
consisting in or characterized by the presence or possession of distinguishing or marked qualities or features (negative ).
Light is positive, darkness negative.
noting the presence of such qualities, as a term.
measured or proceeding in a direction assumed as beneficial, progressive, or auspicious.
a positive upturn in the stock market.
Electricity.
of, relating to, or characterized by positive electricity.
indicating a point in a circuit that has a higher potential than that of another point, the current flowing from the point of higher potential to the point of lower potential.
of, relating to, or noting the north pole of a magnet.
Chemistry.(of an element or group) tending to lose electrons and become positively charged; basic.
Grammar.being, noting, or pertaining to the initial degree of the comparison of adjectives and adverbs, as the positive form good.
Medicine/Medical.
(of blood, affected tissue, etc.) indicating the presence of a specified medical condition or substance.
Her urine was positive for opiates.
(of a diagnostic test) indicating the presence of the medical condition or substance tested for.
a positive test for tuberculosis.
(of a person) diagnosed as having a specified medical condition, or having a specified substance in the body (often used in combination): She tested positive for lupus.
He's HIV positive.
She tested positive for lupus.
Biochemistry.Rh factor.
Mathematics.noting a quantity greater than zero.
(of government) assuming control or regulation of activities beyond those involved merely with the maintenance of law and order.
Biology.oriented or moving toward the focus of excitation.
a positive tropism.
Photography.denoting a print or transparency showing the brightness values as they are in the subject.
Machinery.noting or pertaining to a process or machine part having a fixed or certain operation, especially as the result of elimination of play, free motion, etc..
positive lubrication.
noun
something positive.
a positive quality or characteristic.
a positive quantity or symbol.
a positive test result.
The athlete was disqualified from competing because his drug test came back a positive.
Grammar.
the positive degree.
a form in the positive, as good or smooth.
Photography.a positive image, as on a print or transparency.
positive
/ ˈɒɪɪ /
adjective
characterized by or expressing certainty or affirmation
a positive answer
composed of or possessing actual or specific qualities; real
a positive benefit
tending to emphasize what is good or laudable; constructive
he takes a very positive attitude when correcting pupils' mistakes
tending towards progress or improvement; moving in a beneficial direction
philosophy
constructive rather than sceptical
(of a concept) denoting the presence rather than the absence of some property
independent of circumstances; absolute or unqualified
informal(prenominal) (intensifier)
a positive delight
maths
having a value greater than zero
a positive number
designating, consisting of, or graduated in one or more quantities greater than zero
positive direction
maths
measured in a direction opposite to that regarded as negative
having the same magnitude as but opposite sense to an equivalent negative quantity
grammar denoting the usual form of an adjective as opposed to its comparative or superlative form
biology indicating movement or growth towards a particular stimulus
physics
(of an electric charge) having an opposite polarity to the charge of an electron and the same polarity as the charge of a proton
(of a body, system, ion, etc) having a positive electric charge; having a deficiency of electrons
a positive ion
(of a point in an electric circuit) having a higher electric potential than some other point with an assigned zero potential
short for electropositive
(of a lens) capable of causing convergence of a parallel beam of light
med (of the results of an examination or test) indicating the existence or presence of a suspected disorder or pathogenic organism
med (of the effect of a drug or therapeutic regimen) beneficial or satisfactory
short for Rh positive
(of a machine part) having precise motion with no hysteresis or backlash
(of a government) directly involved in activities beyond the minimum maintenance of law and order, such as social welfare or the organization of scientific research
economics of or denoting an analysis that is free of ethical, political, or value judgments
astrology of, relating to, or governed by the group of signs of the zodiac that belong to the air and fire classifications, which are associated with a self-expressive spontaneous nature
noun
something that is positive
maths a quantity greater than zero
photog a print or slide showing a photographic image whose colours or tones correspond to those of the original subject
grammar the positive degree of an adjective or adverb
a positive object, such as a terminal or plate in a voltaic cell
music
Also called: positive organ.a medieval nonportable organ with one manual and no pedals Compare portative organ
a variant spelling of positif
positive
Greater than zero.
Having an electric charge or voltage greater than zero.
Indicating the presence of a disease, condition, or organism, as a diagnostic test.
Other Word Forms
- positiveness noun
- overpositive adjective
- overpositively adverb
- overpositiveness noun
- quasi-positive adjective
- quasi-positively adverb
- superpositive adjective
- superpositively adverb
- superpositiveness noun
- unpositive adjective
- unpositively adverb
- unpositiveness noun
- ˈDzپԱ noun
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of positive1
Example Sentences
On Monday, he said that, “I just hope that we can be a positive distraction for what people are going through in Los Angeles right now.”
The positive energy around the club was further fuelled by a successful week for the British contingent, who quickly made themselves at home.
"I have driven the ball as good as I have for a long time, so that's a positive from this week. I was hoping to play better, but didn't."
"We don't know the answer, but we can hope it's a positive one, I guess," he said.
“I just hope that we can be a positive distraction for what people are going through in Los Angeles right now,” Roberts said on Monday in San Diego.
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When To Use
To be positive of something is to be fully assured of its truth or accuracy. How is positive different from certain, confident, and sure? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
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