Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

active voice

Cultural  
  1. One of the two “voices” of verbs (see also passive voice). When the verb of a sentence is in the active voice, the subject is doing the acting, as in the sentence “Kevin hit the ball.” Kevin (the subject of the sentence) acts in relation to the ball.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

"As a player who has an active voice, I tell people to seek help," he said.

From BBC Mar. 20, 2024

Long after he left office, Florio continued to be an active voice and weighed in on several issues.

From Seattle Times Sep. 26, 2022

Q: In the last few years particularly, you’ve been an active voice in speaking up about anti-Asian rhetoric and violence.

From Washington Post Aug. 19, 2022

I think he’s doing a very good job of showing leadership right now in terms of taking an active voice and using that in the U.N. and NATO.

From New York Times Apr. 21, 2022

The passive allows him to do so because the agent can be left unmentioned, which is impossible in the active voice.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training