affirmative

[uh-fur-muh-tiv]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR affirmative ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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

expressing agreement or consent; assenting: an affirmative reply.

positive; not negative.

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

noun

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

a reply indicating assent, as Yes or I do.

a manner or mode that indicates assent: a reply in the affirmative.

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

(used to indicate agreement, assent, etc.): “Is this the right way to Lake George?” “Affirmative.”

Origin of affirmative

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

Related formsaf·firm·a·tive·ly, adverbo·ver·af·firm·a·tive, adjectiveo·ver·af·firm·a·tive·ly, adverbpre·af·firm·a·tive, adjectivequa·si-af·firm·a·tive, adjectivequa·si-af·firm·a·tive·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for affirmatively

appropriately, cheerfully, favorably, happily, kindly, mutually, obligingly, peacefully, politely, satisfactorily, sympathetically, well, wonderfully, affably, affirmatively, amiably, amicably, benevolently, convivially, genially

Examples from the Web for affirmatively

Contemporary Examples of affirmatively

With these new apps, users will have to affirmatively click a consent box that gives the app permission to share information.
Facebook’s New Grab for More Data
Justin Brookman
September 22, 2011

Historical Examples of affirmatively

So much is shown, affirmatively and negatively, by the election.
The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume Seven
Abraham Lincoln
These were questions which occurred to everyone, and many answered them affirmatively.
The River War
Winston S. Churchill
If affirmatively, George supposes again that there's an end of it.
Ginger-Snaps
Fanny Fern
Yet she had said it, and women do not lie (affirmatively) about such a matter.
Joan of the Sword Hand
S(amuel) R(utherford) Crockett
My own mind was fully made up on that point, and affirmatively so.
Parasites
T. Spencer Cobbold

British Dictionary definitions for affirmatively

affirmative

adjective

confirming or asserting something as true or validan affirmative statement

indicating agreement or assentan affirmative answer

logic

(of a categorial proposition) affirming the satisfaction by the subject of the predicate, as in all birds have feathers; some men are married
not containing negationCompare negative (def. 12)

noun

a positive assertion

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

logic an affirmative proposition

the affirmative mainly US and Canadian the side in a debate that supports the proposition

sentence substitute

military a signal codeword used to express assent or confirmation

Derived Formsaffirmatively, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for affirmatively

adv.

mid-15c., from affirmative + -ly (2).

affirmative

adj.

"answering 'yes,'" mid-15c., from use in logic; from Middle French affirmatif (13c.), from Latin affirmativus, from affirmat-, past participle stem of affirmare (see affirm). As a noun from early 15c. Affirmative action "positive or corrective effort by employers to prevent discrimination in hiring or promotion" is attested from 1935 with regard to labor unions; specific racial sense is from 1961; now often used more generally in reference to hiring quotas, etc.