passive-aggressive

American  

[pas-iv-uh-gres-iv] / ˈpæs ɪv əˈgrɛs ɪv /

adjective

1. denoting or pertaining to a personality type or behavior marked by the expression of negative emotions in passive, indirect ways, as through manipulation or noncooperation.

   a passive-aggressive employee who often misses deadlines.

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passive-aggressive British  

adjective

1. psychoanal of or relating to a personality that harbours aggressive emotions while behaving in a calm or detached manner

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Usage

What does passive-aggressive mean? Passive aggressive behavior is a way to express feelings of anger or annoyance, but in a non-forthcoming way. Instead of communicating openly, people who engage in this type of behavior share their negative feelings through actions.Passive aggressive personality disorder was once also a psychiatric diagnosis.

Other Word Forms

• passive-aggression noun

Etymology

Origin of passive-aggressive

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

Those recipes are about the only Thanksgivingy thing about the episode, which mostly revolves around Ross being a mopey passive-aggressive jerk who has somehow become the object of two women’s affection.

From Los Angeles Times

Her Michelle Fuller is the type of leader who gets pictured on magazine covers, and Mr. Lanthimos shows her getting up at 4:30 for a regimen of cardio, strength training and hand-to-hand combat before reporting cheerfully to her office, where her passive-aggressive personality is increasingly the defining ethos.

From The Wall Street Journal

Leslie Vernick, a licensed clinical social worker and relationship coach, has written about the silent treatment and how it is born from a sense of injury and victimhood, even though it is ultimately a passive-aggressive way of not dealing with a situation.

From MarketWatch

Metcalfe’s thesis is driven by a romanticized notion of Blundy’s life, but as McEwan slowly and carefully reveals, his poem, ostensibly a “repository of dreams,” more closely resembles a passive-aggressive act.

From Los Angeles Times

There’s even something passive-aggressive about Suzanne’s show of concern for all viewpoints, a trait that becomes all the more conspicuous after a crisis erupts at the school.

From Los Angeles Times