affirmative

American  

[uh-fur-muh-tiv] / əˈfɜr mə tɪv /

adjective

1. affirming or assenting; asserting the truth, validity, or fact of something.

2. expressing agreement or consent; assenting.

   an affirmative reply.

3. positive; not negative.

4. Logic. noting a proposition in which a property of a subject is affirmed, as “All men are happy.”

---

noun

• affirmatives
  plural

1. something that affirms or asserts; a positive statement or proposition; affirmation.

2. a reply indicating assent, as Yes or I do.

3. a manner or mode that indicates assent.

   a reply in the affirmative.

4. the side, as in a debate, that affirms or defends a statement that the opposite side denies or attacks.

   to speak for the affirmative.

interjection

1. (used to indicate agreement, assent, etc.).

   “Is this the right way to Lake George?” “Affirmative.”

affirmative British  

/ əˈfɜːmətɪv /

adjective

1. confirming or asserting something as true or valid

   an affirmative statement

2. indicating agreement or assent

   an affirmative answer

3. logic

   1. (of a categorial proposition) affirming the satisfaction by the subject of the predicate, as in all birds have feathers; some men are married

   2. not containing negation Compare negative

---

noun

1. a positive assertion

2. a word or phrase stating agreement or assent, such as yes (esp in the phrase answer in the affirmative )

3. logic an affirmative proposition

4. the side in a debate that supports the proposition

1. military a signal codeword used to express assent or confirmation

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overaffirmative
  adjective
• preaffirmative
  adjective
• quasi-affirmative
  adjective
• affirmatively
  adverb
• overaffirmatively
  adverb
• quasi-affirmatively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• affirmatives
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of affirmative

1400–50; < Latin affirmātīvus, equivalent to affirmāt- ( see affirmation) + -īvus -ive; replacing late Middle English affirmatyff < Middle French < Latin

---

Explanation

Something affirmative expresses agreement or approval, like the affirmative nod your mother gives you when you ask to be excused from the dinner table. A formal way of saying "Yes" is "Affirmative!" Anything affirmative is approving of something: affirmative words support someone or something. Being affirmative is the opposite of being negative or contradicting. A pat on the back is affirmative so is a signature you need to complete a form. Also, you can use affirmative as a formal way of saying yes to something. This is common in the military. It might sound a little odd, but if your teacher asked, "Does 10 plus 10 equal 20?" you could answer, "Affirmative!"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

affirmative affirmatives

The filing alleges that in 2018 "Amazon began secretly manipulating its auction results to increase its ad prices" and "gave its customers no notice of this change and took affirmative steps to conceal it."

From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026

Antidiscrimination laws mean that affirmative action, which existed for decades in the U.S., is illegal in the U.K.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

There have been hunger strikes demanding farmers' rights, affirmative action, environmental protections, anti-corruption laws and the repeal of controversial security legislation.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

By statute, the commission requires the affirmative vote of at least three members to act.

From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026

Logically speaking, a sentence with a naysaying word like not, no, neither, nor, or never is just the mirror image of an affirmative sentence.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Most soiree veterans are accustomed to getting an influx of “yes” confirmations not long after the invites go out and another wave of affirmatives days before the party starts.

From Salon ● Nov. 22, 2023

For the kids in the working-class families, the ratio was twelve affirmatives to seven prohibitions, and in the welfare families it was five affirmatives to eleven prohibitions.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 5, 2015

None the less the press busied itself with the affirmatives of all these denials for many days.

From Time Magazine Archive

For the past year the British working classes have grown increasingly aware that they were getting two negatives where they wanted two affirmatives.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Retrieval Squad roared military-type affirmatives, coaxing as many metallic noises from their weapons as possible.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---