affirmative

[uh-fur-muh-tiv]

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

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

/ 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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of affirmative¹

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

Example Sentences

An echo answered in the affirmative: cave cave cave cave .

Read more on Literature

Wen replied in the affirmative, saying he was “going to stop.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A full count of castes promises a sharper picture of who truly benefits from affirmative action and who is left behind.

Read more on BBC

Since taking his seat in 2005, he has been central to rulings that eliminated affirmative action, elevated religious-exercise rights, limited federal regulatory authority and, of particular focus now, expanded presidential power.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Unmentioned, though, is Israel’s direct, nondiscriminatory, affirmative nurturing of Israeli Arab families.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal