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positively

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
pos·i·tive  (pz-tv)
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.
3. Explicitly or openly expressed or laid down: a positive demand.
4. Admitting of no doubt; irrefutable: positive proof.
5.
a. Very sure; confident: I'm positive he's right. See Synonyms at sure.
b. Overconfident; dogmatic.
6. Formally or arbitrarily determined; prescribed.
7. Concerned with practical rather than theoretical matters.
8. Composed of or characterized by the presence of particular qualities or attributes; real.
9. Philosophy
a. Of or relating to positivism.
b. Of or relating to laws imposed by human authority rather than by nature or reason alone: "the glaring discrepancy between American positive law and natural rights" (David Brion Davis).
c. 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 Relating to or designating an electric charge of a sign opposite to that of an electron.
13. Medicine Indicating the presence of a particular disease, condition, or organism: a positive test for pregnancy.
14. Biology Indicating or characterized by response or motion toward the source of a stimulus, such as light: positive tropism.
15. Having the areas of light and dark in their original and normal relationship, as in a photographic print made from a negative.
16. Grammar Of, relating to, or being the simple uncompared degree of an adjective or adverb, as opposed to either the comparative or superlative.
17. 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 positvus, formally laid down, from positus, past participle of pnere, to place; see apo- in Indo-European roots.]

posi·tive·ly adv.
posi·tive·ness, posi·tivi·ty n.

positively [ˈpɒzɪtɪvlɪ]
adv
1. in a positive manner
2. (intensifier) he disliked her: in fact, he positively hated her
sentence substitute
unquestionably; absolutely
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adv.1.positively - extremely; "it was positively monumental"
intensifier, intensive - a modifier that has little meaning except to intensify the meaning it modifies; "`up' in `finished up' is an intensifier"; "`honestly' in `I honestly don't know' is an intensifier"
2.positively - so as to be positive; in a positive manner; "she intended her remarks to be interpreted positively"

positively
adverb
1. definitely, surely, firmly, certainly, absolutely, emphatically, unquestionably, undeniably, categorically, unequivocally, unmistakably, with certainty, assuredly, without qualification This is positively the worst thing I can imagine.
2. really, completely, simply, plain (informal), absolutely, thoroughly, utterly, downright He was positively furious.
Translations
positively [ˈpɒzɪtɪvlɪ] ADV
1. (= with certainty) [guarantee] → con seguridad; (= categorically) [refuse] → tajantemente
the body has been positively identifiedse ha hecho una identificación definitiva del cadáver
2. (= affirmatively) [respond, act] → de manera positiva
most employees view the new system positivelyla mayoría de los empleados ha reaccionado favorablemente al nuevo sistema, la mayoría de los empleados ve el nuevo sistema con buenos ojos
you must think and act positivelydebes tener una actitud positiva
they are contributing positively to the development of their communityestán participando activamente en el desarrollo de su comunidad
3. (= really, absolutely) [amazed, delighted] → realmente, verdaderamente
the food was positively disgusting!¡la comida daba auténtico or verdadero asco!, ¡la comida era realmente or verdaderamente asquerosa!
this is positively the last time I'm going to tell youestá sí que es la última vez que te lo digo
Miguel knows positively nothing about businessMiguel no sabe absolutamente nada de negocios
4. (Elec) a positively charged ionun ión con carga positiva
positively [ˈpɒzɪtɪvli] adv
to think positively → être positif/ive
to react positively to a suggestion → réagir favorablement à une proposition
[respond] to respond positively (= say yes) → répondre affirmativement
to respond positively to treatment [patient] → bien réagir au traitement
(= actually) [dangerous, harmful, rude, abusive] → carrément
It is not just acceptable, but positively encouraged
BUT Non seulement c'est acceptable, mais c'est même vivement recommandé.
Parents are positively encouraged to
BUT On encourage vivement les parents à.
(= absolutely)
This is positively the worst thing that I could imagine → C'est vraiment la pire chose que je puisse imaginer.
This is positively the last time I'm going to say this → Je répète ceci pour la toute dernière fois.
This is positively the last chance for industry to → C'est la toute dernière occasion qu'auront les entreprises de ...
[identify] → formellement
to be positively identified [body, person] → être formellement identifié(e) positively charged
positively charged adj [ion, nucleus, particle] → positivement
positive thinking n
the benefits of positive thinking → les bénéfices qu'il y a à voir les choses de façon constructive
These people believe positive thinking can cure cancer → Ces gens croient que l'on peut guérir d'un cancer si l'on adopte une attitude constructive.
positively
adv
(= affirmatively, constructively, also Sci) → positiv
(= decisively)bestimmt; (= definitely, indisputably) provedefinitiv, eindeutig; (= conclusively) identifyeindeutig, bestimmt, definitiv; to test positively for drugspositiv auf Drogen getestet werden; I positively forbid itich verbiete es absolut or definitiv
(= really, absolutely)wirklich, echt (inf); (emph: = actively) → eindeutig, bestimmt; she positively glowed with pridesie strahlte regelrecht vor Stolz; Jane doesn’t mind being photographed, she positively loves itJane hat nichts dagegen, fotografiert zu werden, im Gegenteil, sie hat es sehr gern or sie hat es eindeutig sehr gern
(Elec, Phys) chargedpositiv; positively charged terminalPlus-Klemme f
positively [ˈpɒzɪtɪvlɪ] adv (approach) → positivamente; (decisively) → decisamente; (effectively) → concretamente (fam) (really, absolutely) → assolutamente
to think positively → pensare in modo costruttivo
this is positively the last time I'll do this → è decisamente l'ultima volta che lo faccio
it looks positively frightening → fa decisamente paura
positively [ˈpɒzɪtɪvlɪ] adv (approach) → positivamente; (decisively) → decisamente; (effectively) → concretamente (fam) (really, absolutely) → assolutamente
to think positively → pensare in modo costruttivo
this is positively the last time I'll do this → è decisamente l'ultima volta che lo faccio
it looks positively frightening → fa decisamente paura


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I positively refuse to read her, as I positively refuse to listen to her, whenever she attempts to return to that one subject.
He knew that this was stupid, he knew that it was positively not right, and contrary to his present new plans, but this house was a whole world to Levin.
Nevertheless it is clear that such persons as the writer of these notes not only may, but positively must, exist in our society, when we consider the circumstances in the midst of which our society is formed.
 
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