pas·siv·i·ty

(pă-sĭv′ĭ-tē)

The condition or quality of being passive; inactivity, quiescence, or submissiveness.

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.

pas•siv•i•ty

(pæˈsɪv ɪ ti)

n.

1. Also, pas•sive•ness (ˈpæs ɪv nɪs) the state or condition of being passive.

2. chemical inactivity, esp. the resistance to corrosion of certain metals.

[1650–60]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	passivity - the trait of remaining inactive; a lack of initiative passiveness inertia, inactiveness, inactivity - a disposition to remain inactive or inert; "he had to overcome his inertia and get back to work" spiritlessness, numbness, apathy, indifference - the trait of lacking enthusiasm for or interest in things generally torpidness, torpor, listlessness, torpidity - inactivity resulting from lethargy and lack of vigor or energy
	2.	passivity - submission to others or to outside influences passiveness submissiveness - the trait of being willing to yield to the will of another person or a superior force etc.

Translations

عَدَم نَشاط، لا مُبالاه

pasivita

passivitet

Passivität

παθητικότητα

passivité

passzivitás

hlutleysi; aîgerîaleysi

passivit...passività

eylemsizlik

消极

passivity

[pæˈsɪvɪti] n → passivité f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

passive

(ˈpӕsiv) adjective

1. showing no interest, emotion etc, or not resisting an attack etc. The villagers showed passive resistance to the enemy

2. of the form of the verb used when the subject receives the action of the verb. The boy was bitten by the dog.

ˈpassively adverb

ˈpassiveness noun

pasˈsivity noun

pas·siv·i·ty

n. pasividad, estado anormal de dependencia de otros.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Caswall's face had lost its appearance of passivity. His eyes glowed with a fiery light.

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But Adam had been refreshed by his long rest, and with his habitual impatience of mere passivity, he was eager to begin the new day and subdue sadness by his strong will and strong arm.

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The four sang on with the phlegmatic passivity of persons who had long ago settled the question, and there being no mistake about it, felt that further thought was not required.

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She sat still and let Tantripp put on her bonnet and shawl, a passivity which was unusual with her, for she liked to wait on herself.

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It is depressing to see so really noble a character as Catherine soured, as we feel, and lowered, as time goes on, from the happy resignation of the first volume (in which solemn, beautiful, and entire, and so very real, she is like a poem of Wordsworth) down to the mere passivity of the third volume, and the closing scene of Robert Elsmere's days, very exquisitely as this episode of unbelieving yet saintly biography has been conceived and executed.

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Deane's to learn how Lucy was; the report was always sad,--nothing had yet roused her from the feeble passivity which had come on with the first shock.

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The gorilla seemed puzzled by the strange passivity of the hairless ape.

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It was all prosaic effort, not rapt passivity, such as I had experienced half an hour before.

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Berkshire has amended the passivity commitments with the Federal Reserve to permit Berkshire to retain company shares that reflect ownership of up to a percentage that is less than 25% of any class of the company's voting securities, where the increase in its percentage ownership in excess of 17% resulted from the company's share repurchase program.

American Express reports restated letter agreement with Berkshire Hathaway

"The delaying of the settlement of the conflict testifies again to passivity of the OSCE Minsk Group," the president said.

Turkish president: OSCE Minsk Group must focus on Karabakh conflict settlement

If surrendering US primacy in the region to Russia was the result of US passivity and inaction, the intrusion of Iran into Syria can very definitely be attributed to ill-conceived, active American policy.

INTO THE FRAY: Syria-Reaping the storm Obama sowed