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

This can happen when a buyer trades in a car with negative equity, because it’s likely that what they still owe gets rolled into the new loan.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

HUD said the suspension was necessary, citing negative audits and news reports going back more than a decade.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Neither of those assertions is grounded in scientific fact, and both have negative ramifications for women and children if they are followed.

From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026

"I understand that this is meant to simulate an internet disruption that would likely occur in the event of a war, so even though it had negative effects, I can understand," Chu, 22, said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

“And consider this possibility: Is believing you’re selfish one of your automatic negative thoughts?”

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

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

After consulting with experts and good governance groups, the commission agreed the benefits of bifurcation outweighed the negatives, and it passed unanimously by the commission.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026

She felt the positives were outweighed by the negatives.

From BBC ● May 25, 2026

At times, he both flew the plane and took the pictures, only needing a helper to swap out the glass plate negatives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

These two negatives do not equal a positive.

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

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

Mr. Gibson's motion in Parliament to abolish all taxes on knowledge; bearing of these taxes; motion negatived; evasion of the excise on paper by the publisher of the "Greenock Newscloth," 124.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 1. No 1, June 1850 by Various

In consequence of these shuffling contrivances against justice, this most serious inquiry was negatived, while every principle of right was set at open defiance, and the most honourable of the community privately insulted.

From Secret History of the Court of England, from the Accession of George the Third to the Death of George the Fourth, Volume II (of 2) Including, Among Other Important Matters, Full Particulars of the Mysterious Death of the Princess Charlotte by Lady Anne Hamilton

Now if we are convinced that evil in ourselves has no power unless we give it power, that is the first step toward making our efforts positive and so negativing the evil.

From Nerves and Common Sense by Annie Payson Call

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

The importance of the discovery is in negativing the theory that the crime was committed for the sake of robbery.

From The Queen Against Owen by Allen Upward

“No!” came in a roar from up above, every man, in his excitement, negativing the proposal.

From The Kopje Garrison A Story of the Boer War by W. Boucher

They have determined that the King shall have a suspensive and iterative veto: that is, that after negativing a law, it cannot be presented again till after a new election.

From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 3 by Thomas Jefferson Randolph

Related Words

• adverse
• gloomy
• pessimistic
• unfavorable
• weak