negative

American  

[neg-uh-tiv] / ˈnɛg ə tɪv /

adjective

1. expressing or containing negation or denial.

   a negative response to the question.

2. refusing consent, as to a proposal.

   a negative reply to my request.

3. expressing refusal to do something.

   He maintained a negative attitude about cooperating.

4. prohibitory, as a command or order.

5. characterized by the absence of distinguishing or marked qualities or features; lacking positive attributes (opposed to positive).

   a dull, lifeless, negative character.

6. lacking in constructiveness, helpfulness, optimism, cooperativeness, or the like.

   a man of negative viewpoint.

   Synonyms:

   hostile, antagonistic, uncooperative

7. encouraging or noting an unhealthy or unbalanced outlook toward something, especially toward sex or sexuality (used in combination).

   The song has a body-negative message.

8. being without rewards, results, or effectiveness.

   a search of the premises proved negative.

9. Mathematics, Physics.

   1. involving or noting subtraction; minus.

   2. measured or proceeding in the direction opposite to that which is considered as positive.

10. Photography. noting an image in which the brightness values of the subject are reproduced so that the lightest areas are shown as the darkest.

11. Electricity.

    1. of, relating to, or characterized by negative electricity.

    2. indicating a point in a circuit that has a lower potential than that of another point, the current flowing from the point of higher potential to the point of lower potential.

12. Medicine/Medical.

    1. (of blood, affected tissue, etc.) failing to indicate the presence of a specified medical condition or substance.

    2. (of a diagnostic test) failing to indicate the presence of the medical condition or substance tested for.

       Test results for skin cancer were negative.

    3. (of a person) not having a specified medical condition, or not having a specified substance in the body (often used in combination): I'm Rh-negative.

       She tested negative for a staph infection.

       I'm Rh-negative.

13. Chemistry. (of an element or group) tending to gain electrons and become negatively charged; acid.

14. Physiology. responding in a direction away from the stimulus.

15. of, relating to, or noting the south pole of a magnet.

16. Logic. (of a proposition) denying the truth of the predicate with regard to the subject.

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noun

• negatives
  plural

1. a negative statement, answer, word, gesture, etc..

   The ship signaled back a negative.

2. a refusal of assent.

   to answer a request with a negative.

3. the negative form of statement.

4. a person or number of persons arguing against a resolution, statement, etc., especially a team upholding the negative side in a formal debate.

5. a negative quality or characteristic.

6. disadvantage; drawback.

   The plan is generally brilliant, but it has one or two negatives.

7. a negative test result.

   Her test for the infection was a negative.

8. Mathematics.

   1. a minus sign.

   2. a negative quantity or symbol.

9. Photography. a negative image, as on a film, used chiefly for making positives.

10. Electricity. the negative plate or element in a voltaic cell.

11. Archaic. a veto, or right of veto.

    The delegation may exercise its negative.

adverb

1. (used to indicate a negative response).

   “You won't come with us?” “Negative.”

verb (used with object)

• negatives,
  present (3rd person singular)
• negatived,
  past participle,  past
• negativing
  present participle

1. to deny; contradict.

2. to refute or disprove (something).

3. to refuse assent or consent to; veto.

4. to neutralize or counteract.

interjection

1. (used to indicate disagreement, denial of permission, etc.).

   Negative, pilot—complete your mission as directed.

idioms

1. in the negative, in the form of a negative response, as a refusal, denial, or disagreement; no.

   The reply, when it finally came, was in the negative.

negative British  

/ ˈnɛɡətɪv /

adjective

1. expressing or meaning a refusal or denial

   a negative answer

2. lacking positive or affirmative qualities, such as enthusiasm, interest, or optimism

3. showing or tending towards opposition or resistance

4. 1. measured in a direction opposite to that regarded as positive

   2. having the same magnitude but opposite sense to an equivalent positive quantity

5. biology indicating movement or growth away from a particular stimulus

   negative geotropism

6. med (of the results of a diagnostic test) indicating absence of the disease or condition for which the test was made

7. another word for minus minus

8. physics

   1. (of an electric charge) having the same polarity as the charge of an electron

   2. (of a body, system, ion, etc) having a negative electric charge; having an excess of electrons

   3. (of a point in an electric circuit) having a lower electrical potential than some other point with an assigned zero potential

9. short for electronegative

10. of or relating to a photographic negative

11. logic (of a categorial proposition) denying the satisfaction by the subject of the predicate, as in some men are irrational; no pigs have wings

12. astrology of, relating to, or governed by the signs of the zodiac of the earth and water classifications, which are thought to be associated with a receptive passive nature

13. short for Rh negative

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noun

1. a statement or act of denial, refusal, or negation

2. a negative person or thing

3. photog a piece of photographic film or a plate, previously exposed and developed, showing an image that, in black-and-white photography, has a reversal of tones. In colour photography the image is in complementary colours to the subject so that blue sky appears yellow, green grass appears purple, etc

4. physics a negative object, such as a terminal or a plate in a voltaic cell

5. a sentence or other linguistic element with a negative meaning, as the English word not

6. a quantity less than zero or a quantity to be subtracted

7. logic a negative proposition

8. archaic the right of veto

9. indicating denial or refusal

1. (esp in military communications) a signal code word for no 1

verb

1. to deny or nullify; negate

2. to show to be false; disprove

3. to refuse to consent to or approve of

   the proposal was negatived

negative Scientific  

/ nĕg′ə-tĭv /

1. Less than zero.

2. Having the electric charge or voltage less than zero.

3. Devoid of evidence of a suspected condition or disease, as a diagnostic test.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• negativeness
  noun
• negativity
  noun
• nonnegativity
  noun
• quasi-negative
  adjective
• negatively
  adverb
• quasi-negatively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• negatives
  plural

Participles

• negativing
  present
• negatived
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• negative
  simple
• negatives
  simple
• have negatived
  perfect
• has negatived
  perfect
• am negativing
  progressive
• are negativing
  progressive
• is negativing
  progressive
• have been negativing
  perfect progressive
• has been negativing
  perfect progressive

Past

• negatived
  simple
• had negatived
  perfect
• was negativing
  progressive
• were negativing
  progressive
• had been negativing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will negative
  simple
• will have negatived
  perfect
• will be negativing
  progressive
• will have been negativing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of negative

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Latin negātīvus “denying”; see negate, -ive ; replacing Middle English negatif (noun and adjective), from Middle French, from Latin, as above

Explanation

Negative means focused on what is bad or lacking. A negative ad tells you bad things about the competition. A negative person loves to complain. In math, a negative number is less than zero. People who see the glass half empty have a negative outlook. Ask your mom for ice cream and receive an answer in the negative? Don't be too negative back to her, or it'll be a while before you have another chance at ice cream.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

negative negatives negatived negativing

“We expect a strong negative reaction from the sector, including the potential for greenfield projects to be put on hold by Regis and others given the reduced certainty of returns,” says UBS.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

“The bar for hiking into negative payrolls is higher than the market thinks.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

However, women who drank more than five cups a day had lower BMD, suggesting that very high coffee consumption could have negative effects.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026

Boyle, despite his own left-wing politics, said he had not set out to make a negative film about Murdoch, now aged 95.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

“You don’t want to think about nothin’! When you think, half the time you’re thinkin’ negative thoughts.

From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman

And there are negatives that investors may be overlooking.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

What are the benefits and negatives of each?

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026

The negatives — how could there not be massive job loss?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

That question is at the center of a new paper published in Nature Astronomy, where researchers examine the often-overlooked problem of "false negatives" in the search for extraterrestrial life.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 30, 2026

He switched on the darkroom light and pulled the negatives out of the bath and held them up to the light.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

Referring to Erskine May, Parliament's ancient and respected rule book, he said MPs should never be asked to vote again on the same proposition if they had already "negatived" it during the current Parliamentary session.

From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2019

With gentle but resolute firmness, His Majesty negatived this proposal, hailed a passing motorist who, overwhelmed, obeyed with alacrity a royal command that he convey Miss Betts to her residence in Uxbridge.

From Time Magazine Archive

Miss Bingley moved with alacrity to the pianoforte, and after a polite request that Elizabeth would lead the way, which the other as politely and more earnestly negatived, she seated herself.

From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

Powell resumed his speech and made a much longer one than his first, at the end of which he moved an adjournment, negatived by 4 to 32.

From The Life of Lyman Trumbull by Horace White

Richardson moved that the Senate adjourn; negatived by 5 to 30.

From The Life of Lyman Trumbull by Horace White

This they proceeded to do, negativing absolutely my desire to accompany them.

From Gold by Stewart Edward White

That is passing by this Convention altogether; it is negativing the States represented in it.

From A Report of the Debates and Proceedings in the Secret Sessions of the Conference Convention For Proposing Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, Held at Washington, D.C., in February, A.D. 1861 by L. E. (Lucius Eugene) Chittenden

The old question, “Who shall stand in the Holy Place?” is not answered in the gospel by reducing the conditions, or negativing the old reply.

From The Expositor's Bible: Colossians and Philemon by Alexander Maclaren

He said he could not tolerate the ordinary gravestone, which always looked, to him, as if the wind might blow it over, thus negativing the idea of solidity.

From The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett

It even referred directly to one of my tentative hypotheses, at once negativing it and giving another altogether satisfactory.

From The Story of Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland and of the new Gospel of Interpretation by Edward Maitland

Related Words

• adverse
• gloomy
• pessimistic
• unfavorable
• weak