negative

[neg-uh-tiv]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR negative ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

expressing or containing negation or denial: a negative response to the question.

refusing consent, as to a proposal: a negative reply to my request.

expressing refusal to do something: He maintained a negative attitude about cooperating.

prohibitory, as a command or order.

characterized by the absence of distinguishing or marked qualities or features; lacking positive attributes (opposed to positive): a dull, lifeless, negative character.

lacking in constructiveness, helpfulness, optimism, cooperativeness, or the like: a man of negative viewpoint.

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.

being without rewards, results, or effectiveness: a search of the premises proved negative.

Mathematics, Physics.

involving or noting subtraction; minus.
measured or proceeding in the direction opposite to that which is considered as positive.

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

Electricity.

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

Medicine/Medical.

(of blood, affected tissue, etc.) failing to indicate the presence of a specified medical condition or substance.
(of a diagnostic test) failing to indicate the presence of the medical condition or substance tested for:Test results for skin cancer were negative.
(of a person) not having a specified medical condition, or not having a specified substance in the body (often used in combination):She tested negative for a staph infection.I'm Rh-negative.

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

Physiology. responding in a direction away from the stimulus.

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

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

noun

a negative statement, answer, word, gesture, etc.: The ship signaled back a negative.

a refusal of assent: to answer a request with a negative.

the negative form of statement.

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

a negative quality or characteristic.

disadvantage; drawback: The plan is generally brilliant, but it has one or two negatives.

Mathematics.

a minus sign.
a negative quantity or symbol.

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

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

Archaic. a veto, or right of veto: The delegation may exercise its negative.

adverb

(used to indicate a negative response): “You won't come with us?” “Negative.”

verb (used with object), neg·a·tived, neg·a·tiv·ing.

to deny; contradict.

to refute or disprove (something).

to refuse assent or consent to; veto.

to neutralize or counteract.

interjection

(used to indicate disagreement, denial of permission, etc.): Negative, pilot—complete your mission as directed.

Idioms

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.

Origin of negative

1350–1400; < Latin negātīvus denying (see negate, -ive); replacing Middle English negatif (noun and adj.) < Middle French < Latin as above

Related formsneg·a·tive·ly, adverbneg·a·tive·ness, neg·a·tiv·i·ty, nounnon·neg·a·tiv·i·ty, nounqua·si-neg·a·tive, adjectivequa·si-neg·a·tive·ly, adverb

Synonyms for negative

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR negative ON THESAURUS.COM

6. uncooperative, antagonistic, hostile.

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

Related Words for negativity

antagonism, negativism, dubiousness, adversity, hostility, disapproval, deprecation, distrust, hesitation, leeriness, reluctance, suspicion, uncertainty

Examples from the Web for negativity

Contemporary Examples of negativity

There was “some note of caution” attached to hiring Knox, thanks to the negativity from the case, Robinson said.
Amanda Knox, Cub Reporter: The Convicted Murderer Is Now Writing Theater Reviews for a Small Seattle Paper
Justin Miller
November 4, 2014
It seeks to neuter the criticism of any lurking Paltrow naysayers wishing to transfer their negativity to Lively.
Blake Lively Gets Her GOOP On
Tim Teeman
July 23, 2014
We choose darkness and negativity over positivity and light.
Can Linda Perry Save Music?
Kevin Fallon
July 16, 2014
Tyson and Roethlisberger both returned to their respective sports, but not without the looming cloud of negativity and suspicion.
Can Darren Sharper Beat His Rape Rap With the Kobe Defense?
Eboni K. Williams
March 18, 2014
In that happy place of the collective imagination, Snowden is practically an avatar of our secular devil—“negativity” incarnate.
Edward Snowden, Not Pope Francis, Is the Person of the Year
James Poulos
December 12, 2013

Historical Examples of negativity

I have only one quarrel with that philosophy--its negativity.
A Preface to Politics
Walter Lippmann
It is from this negativity that duty lends itself to the legal idea of compulsion, and in general wears a legal garb.
A Review of the Systems of Ethics Founded on the Theory of Evolution
C. M. Williams
Ample proof, however, of the negativity of happiness is found in art, and especially in poetry.
The Philosophy of Disenchantment
Edgar Saltus
The points of maximum positivity and negativity are situated symmetrically on the opposite sides of the organ.
Life Movements in Plants, Volume II, 1919
Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose

British Dictionary definitions for negativity

negative

adjective

expressing or meaning a refusal or deniala negative answer

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

showing or tending towards opposition or resistance

measured in a direction opposite to that regarded as positive
having the same magnitude but opposite sense to an equivalent positive quantity

biology indicating movement or growth away from a particular stimulusnegative geotropism

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

another word for minus (def. 3b), minus (def. 5)

physics

(of an electric charge) having the same polarity as the charge of an electron
(of a body, system, ion, etc) having a negative electric charge; having an excess of electrons
(of a point in an electric circuit) having a lower electrical potential than some other point with an assigned zero potential

short for electronegative

of or relating to a photographic negative

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

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

short for Rh negative

noun

a statement or act of denial, refusal, or negation

a negative person or thing

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

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

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

a quantity less than zero or a quantity to be subtracted

logic a negative proposition

archaic the right of veto

in the negative indicating denial or refusal

sentence substitute

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

verb (tr)

to deny or nullify; negate

to show to be false; disprove

to refuse to consent to or approve ofthe proposal was negatived

Compare positive, affirmative

Derived Formsnegatively, adverbnegativeness or negativity, noun

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 negativity

1842, from negative + -ity.

negative

adj.

c.1400, "expressing denial," from Old French negatif (13c.) and directly from Latin negativus "that which denies," from negat-, past participle stem of negare "deny, say no" (see deny). Meaning "expressing negation" is from c.1500; that of "characterized by absence" is from 1560s. Algebraic sense is from 1670s. The electricity sense is from 1755.

Negative Capability, that is when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts without any irritable reaching after fact and reason. [John Keats, letter, Dec. 21, 1817]

Related: Negatively.

negative

late 14c., "a prohibition; absence, nonexistence; opposite," from Old French negatif and directly from Latin negativus (see negative (adj.)). Meaning "a negative statement" is from 1560s. As a response, "I refuse, disagree, no," from 1945. Meaning "a negative quality" is from 1640s. In mathematics, "a negative number," from 1706. Photographic sense first recorded 1853.

negativity in Medicine