ac·tive

(ăk′tĭv)

adj.

1. Being in physical motion: active fish in the aquarium.

2. Functioning or capable of functioning.

a. Marked by energetic activity; busy: active stock and bond markets; spent an active day sightseeing.

b. Involving or requiring physical exertion and energy: an active workout at the gym.

a. Being in a state of action; not quiescent: active hostilities along the border.

b. Erupting or liable to erupt; not dormant: an active volcano.

a. Marked by or involving direct participation: took an active interest in politics; played an active role on the committee.

b. Currently in use or effect: an active membership.

c. Openly acknowledged or expressed: an active dislike of the new neighbors.

6. Producing an intended action or effect: active ingredients.

7. Grammar

a. Indicating that the grammatical subject of a verb is performing or causing the action expressed. Used of a verb form or voice.

b. Expressing action rather than a state of being. Used of verbs such as run, speak, and move.

8. Of or relating to the management of an investment portfolio by continually making investment decisions based on new information as opposed to maintaining a predetermined strategy or reproducing the returns of a market or index.

9. Electronics

a. Being a source of electrical energy, as a generator.

b. Capable of converting or amplifying voltages or currents, as a diode or transistor.

10. Being on full military duty and receiving full pay.

1. Grammar

a. The active voice.

b. A construction or form in the active voice.

2. A participating member of an organization: union actives.

[Middle English actif, from Old French, from Latin āctīvus, from āctus, past participle of agere, to drive, do; see ag- in Indo-European roots.]

ac′tive·ly adv.

ac′tive·ness n.

Synonyms: active, busy, energetic, vigorous, dynamic, lively
These adjectives mean having or displaying energy. Active is the most general, connoting physical or mental exertion in a variety of contexts: an active toddler; an active imagination; remained active in later years by walking and swimming.
Busy suggests engagement in sustained activity on a particular task or job: a busy newspaper staff rushing to meet the deadline.
Energetic and vigorous emphasize performance of an activity or pursuit with enthusiasm or intensity: an energetic competitor; a vigorous crusader against drunk driving.
Dynamic connotes energy and forcefulness that often inspire others or bring about change: a dynamic leader who revitalized the party.
Lively suggests animated activity or alertness: a lively folk dance; a lively interest in politics.

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.

Activeness

About as active as a left-over fly in January —Anon
About as animated as a suit on a hanger —Elyse Sommer
(This region was as) active as a compost heap —Julia O’Faolain
Active as the sun —Isaac Watts
Alive as a vision of life to be —Algernon Charles Swinburne
(He looks) dead as a stump —Pat Conroy
In Conroy’s novel, The Prince of Tides, a character hearing someone described as above disagrees with another simile: “On the contrary, I think he looks as though he could rise up and whistle a John Philip Sousa march.”
Frisky as a frisbee —Helen Hudson
Frisky as a colt —Geoffrey Chaucer
He was behaving as though the party were his: like an energetic octopus, he was shaking martinis, making introductions, manipulating the phonograph —Truman Capote
He is like a moving light, never still. He has the temperature and metabolism of a bird —Joy Williams
He [James Cagney] was like fireworks going off —Television obituary, 1986
Lively as a boy, kind like a fairy godfather —Robert Louis Stevenson
Lively as a weasel —Wallace Stegner
Lusty as June —Wallace Stevens
Mechanically animated, like the masterwork of some fiendishly inventive undertaker —Sharon Sheehe Stark
Pert as a sparrow —Walker Percy
(She had) rolled up her sleeves with all the vigor of a first-class cook confronting a brand-new kitchen —Mary McCarthy
She is active and strong as little lionesses —William James
From a letter describing the energy of women in Dresden, July 24, 1867.
She was like a strong head wind —Marguerite Young
Simmering … like a coal fire in the Welsh mines —Marvin Kittman about British actor Roy Marsden whose popularity thus simmers “in the collective unconscious of the American public” and bursts into flame whenever he makes an appearance in a new British import, Newsday, March 27, 1987
Small and sprightly, like a bantam hen —Truman Capote
Sprightly as a Walt Disney cricket —Jean Thompson
Tireless as a spider —Eudora Welty
Vibrant as an E string —Carl Van Vechten

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	activeness - the state of being active; "his sphere of activity"; "he is out of action" action, activity state - the way something is with respect to its main attributes; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state" agency - the state of being in action or exerting power; "the agency of providence"; "she has free agency" busyness, hum - the state of being or appearing to be actively engaged in an activity; "they manifested all the busyness of a pack of beavers"; "there is a constant hum of military preparation" behaviour, behavior - the action or reaction of something (as a machine or substance) under specified circumstances; "the behavior of small particles can be studied in experiments" eructation, extravasation, eruption - (of volcanos) pouring out fumes or lava (or a deposit so formed) operation - the state of being in effect or being operative; "that rule is no longer in operation" overdrive - the state of high or excessive activity or productivity or concentration; "Troops are ready to go into overdrive as soon as the signal is given"; "Melissa's brain was in overdrive" play - a state in which action is feasible; "the ball was still in play"; "insiders said the company's stock was in play" swing - a state of steady vigorous action that is characteristic of an activity; "the party went with a swing"; "it took time to get into the swing of things" inaction, inactiveness, inactivity - the state of being inactive
	2.	activeness - the trait of being active; moving or acting rapidly and energetically; "the level of activity declines with age" activity trait - a distinguishing feature of your personal nature brio, invigoration, spiritedness, vivification, animation - quality of being active or spirited or alive and vigorous pizzaz, pizzazz, zing, oomph, dynamism - the activeness of an energetic personality inertia, inactiveness, inactivity - a disposition to remain inactive or inert; "he had to overcome his inertia and get back to work"

Translations

فَعَالِيَّة

činnost

det at være aktiv

Betätigung

activité

aktívság

virkni; atorka

aktiflikcanlılık

活跃积极性

active

(ˈӕktiv) adjective

1. energetic or lively; able to work etc. At seventy, he's no longer very active.

2. (busily) involved. She is an active supporter of women's rights.

3. causing an effect or effects. Yeast is an active ingredient in bread-making.

4. in force. The rule is still active.

5. (of volcanoes) still likely to erupt.

6. of the form of a verb in which the subject performs the action of the verb. The dog bit the man.

ˈactiveness noun

ˈactively adverb

actively engaged in politics.

acˈtivity – plural acˈtivities – noun

1. the state of being active or lively. The streets are full of activity this morning.

2. something which one does as a pastime, as part of one's job etc. His activities include fishing and golf.