pos·i·tive
(pŏz′ĭ-tĭv)adj.1. Characterized by or displaying certainty, acceptance, or affirmation: a positive answer; positive criticism.
2. Measured or moving forward or in a direction of increase or progress: positive steps.
3. a. Desirable, admirable, or beneficial: a woman with many positive qualities; the positive features of this new software.
b. Optimistic or constructive: a positive attitude.
c. Not disparaging or malicious: ran a positive political campaign.
4. Very confident; certain:
I'm positive he's right. See Synonyms at
sure.
5. Explicitly or openly expressed or laid down: a positive demand.
6. Admitting of no doubt; irrefutable: positive proof.
7. Concerned with practical rather than theoretical matters.
8. Philosophy a. Of or relating to being or the possession of qualities rather than non-being or the absence of qualities: the question of the positive existence of evil.
b. Of or relating to positivism.
c. Of or relating to positive law.
9. Of or relating to religion based on revelation rather than on nature or reason alone.
10. Informal Utter; absolute: a positive darling.
11. Mathematics a. Relating to or designating a quantity greater than zero.
b. Relating to or designating the sign (+).
c. Relating to or designating a quantity, number, angle, or direction opposite to another designated as negative.
12. Physics a. Relating to or designating an electric charge of a sign opposite to that of an electron.
b. Of or relating to a body having fewer electrons than protons.
13. Chemistry Of or relating to an ion, the cation, that is attracted to a negative electrode.
14. Medicine Indicating the presence of a particular disease, condition, or organism: a positive test for pregnancy.
15. Biology Indicating or characterized by response or motion toward the source of a stimulus, such as light: positive tropism.
16. Having the areas of light and dark in their original and normal relationship, as in a photographic print made from a negative.
17. Grammar Of, relating to, or being the simple uncompared degree of an adjective or adverb, as opposed to either the comparative or superlative.
18. Driven by or generating power directly through intermediate machine parts having little or no play: positive drive.
n.1. An affirmative element or characteristic.
2. Mathematics A quantity greater than zero.
3. Physics A positive electric charge.
4. A photographic image in which the lights and darks appear as they do in nature.
5. Grammar a. The uncompared degree of an adjective or adverb.
b. A word in this degree.
6. Music A division of some pipe organs, similar in sound to the great but smaller and less powerful.
[Middle English,
having a specified quality, from Old French
positif, from Latin
positīvus,
formally laid down, from
positus, past participle of
pōnere,
to place; see
apo- in
Indo-European roots.]
pos′i·tive·ly adv.
pos′i·tive·ness, pos′i·tiv′i·ty n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
positive
(ˈpɒzɪtɪv) adj1. characterized by or expressing certainty or affirmation: a positive answer.
2. composed of or possessing actual or specific qualities; real: a positive benefit.
3. tending to emphasize what is good or laudable; constructive: he takes a very positive attitude when correcting pupils' mistakes.
4. tending towards progress or improvement; moving in a beneficial direction
5. (Philosophy)
philosophy a. constructive rather than sceptical
b. (of a concept) denoting the presence rather than the absence of some property
6. independent of circumstances; absolute or unqualified
7. (prenominal) informal (intensifier): a positive delight.
8. (Mathematics)
maths a. having a value greater than zero: a positive number.
b. designating, consisting of, or graduated in one or more quantities greater than zero: positive direction.
9. (Mathematics)
maths a. measured in a direction opposite to that regarded as negative
b. having the same magnitude as but opposite sense to an equivalent negative quantity
10. (Grammar) grammar denoting the usual form of an adjective as opposed to its comparative or superlative form
11. (Biology) biology indicating movement or growth towards a particular stimulus
12. (General Physics)
physics a. (of an electric charge) having an opposite polarity to the charge of an electron and the same polarity as the charge of a proton
b. (of a body, system, ion, etc) having a positive electric charge; having a deficiency of electrons: a positive ion.
c. (of a point in an electric circuit) having a higher electric potential than some other point with an assigned zero potential
14. (General Physics) (of a lens) capable of causing convergence of a parallel beam of light
15. (Medicine) med (of the results of an examination or test) indicating the existence or presence of a suspected disorder or pathogenic organism
16. (Medicine) med (of the effect of a drug or therapeutic regimen) beneficial or satisfactory
18. (Mechanical Engineering) (of a machine part) having precise motion with no hysteresis or backlash
19. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) chiefly US (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
20. (Economics) economics of or denoting an analysis that is free of ethical, political, or value judgments
21. (Astrology) 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
n22. something that is positive
23. (Mathematics) maths a quantity greater than zero
24. (Photography) photog a print or slide showing a photographic image whose colours or tones correspond to those of the original subject
25. (Grammar) grammar the positive degree of an adjective or adverb
26. (Chemistry) a positive object, such as a terminal or plate in a voltaic cell
27. (Instruments)
music a. Also called:
positive organ a medieval nonportable organ with one manual and no pedals. Compare
portative organ [C13: from Late Latin positīvus positive, agreed on an arbitrary basis, from pōnere to place]
ˈpositiveness, ˌposiˈtivity n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
pos•i•tive
(ˈpɒz ɪ tɪv)
adj. 1. confident in opinion or assertion; sure: He is positive that he'll win.
2. showing or expressing approval or agreement; favorable: a positive reaction to the speech.
3. expressing or containing an assertion or affirmation; affirmative: a positive answer.
4. emphasizing what is laudable, hopeful, or to the good; constructive: a positive attitude.
5. explicitly or emphatically stated, stipulated, or expressed; definite: a positive denial.
6. admitting of no question; incontrovertible: positive proof.
7. overconfident or dogmatic.
8. without relation to or comparison with other things; not relative or comparative; absolute.
9. downright; out-and-out: a positive genius.
10. not speculative or theoretical; practical: a positive approach to the problem.
11. possessing an actual force, being, existence, etc.
12. Philos. a. constructive and sure, rather than skeptical.
b. concerned with or based on matters of experience: positive philosophy.
13. consisting in or characterized by the presence or possession of distinguishing or marked qualities or features (opposed to negative).
14. noting the presence of such qualities, as a term.
15. measured or proceeding in a direction assumed as beneficial, progressive, or auspicious: a positive trend.
16. determined by enactment or convention; arbitrarily laid down: positive laws.
17. a. noting or pertaining to the electricity in a body or substance that is deficient in electrons.
b. 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.
18. of, pertaining to, or noting the north pole of a magnet.
19. (of a chemical element or group) tending to lose electrons and become positively charged; basic.
20. a. (of blood, affected tissue, etc.) showing the presence of disease.
b. (of a diagnostic test) indicating the presence of the disease, condition, etc., tested for.
c. (of a person) diagnosed as having a specified disease or medical condition.
21. noting a numerical quantity greater than zero.
22. of or designating the initial degree of grammatical comparison, used with reference to the simple, base form of an adjective or adverb, as
good or
smoothly. Compare
comparative (def. 4), superlative (def. 2). 23. (of government) assuming control or regulation of activities beyond those involved merely with the maintenance of law and order.
24. Biol. oriented or moving toward the focus of excitation: a positive tropism.
25. of or designating a photographic print or transparency showing the brightness values as they are in the subject.
n. 26. something positive.
27. a positive quality or characteristic.
28. a positive quantity or symbol.
29. a. the positive degree in grammatical comparison.
b. the positive form of an adjective or adverb.
30. a positive photographic image, as on a print or transparency.
[1250–1300; Middle English positif (< Middle French) < Latin positīvus.]
pos′i•tive•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.