negative

[ neg-uh-tiv ]

/ ˈnɛg ə tɪv /

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See synonyms for: negative / negatived / negatives / negativing 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.

a negative test result:Her test for the infection was a negative.

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR negative

6 uncooperative, antagonistic, hostile.

See synonyms for negative on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about negative

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

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

OTHER WORDS FROM negative

neg·a·tive·ly, adverbneg·a·tive·ness, neg·a·tiv·i·ty, nounnon·neg·a·tiv·i·ty, nounqua·si-neg·a·tive, adjective

qua·si-neg·a·tive·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use negative in a sentence

The researchers converted the data to a logarithmic scale, which shows negative numbers.
Puberty may reboot the brain and behaviors|Esther Landhuis|August 27, 2020|Science News For Students
That was after he tested negative in each of two separate tests for the virus.
A Hong Kong man got the new coronavirus twice|Erin Garcia de Jesus|August 26, 2020|Science News For Students
Ten days after the patient developed symptoms the first time, he tested negative for antibodies against the virus.
A man in Hong Kong is the first confirmed case of coronavirus reinfection|Erin Garcia de Jesus|August 24, 2020|Science News
Ad retargeting specialist Criteo is bracing itself for the negative impact.
‘There is no precedent to this’: How Criteo plans to adapt to Apple’s IDFA privacy update|Lara O'Reilly|July 31, 2020|Digiday

They also thought real GDP would grow by about 8 percentage points quarter-over-quarter in the third quarter, with an upper-bound estimate of 17 percent and little chance of negative growth again.
Economists Think Congress Should Keep Paying Unemployed Workers $600 A Week — Or Even More|Neil Paine (neil.paine@fivethirtyeight.com)|July 21, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
We choose darkness and negativity over positivity and light.
Can Linda Perry Save Music?|Kevin Fallon|July 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
That fact alone permits Christie loyalists to greet the new negativity with a healthy degree of sangfroid.
The New, Not Necessarily Improved, Chris Christie|Lloyd Grove|December 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The sign of excitation is, as we found, a contraction and concomitant galvanometric negativity.
Life Movements in Plants, Volume II, 1919|Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose
A is seen to exhibit induced change of galvanometric negativity.
Life Movements in Plants, Volume II, 1919|Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose
The upper side of a horizontally laid shoot is found to undergo an excitatory change of galvanometric negativity.
Life Movements in Plants, Volume II, 1919|Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose
The maximum galvanometric negativity of the upper side was found to occur at the geo-perceptive layer.
Life Movements in Plants, Volume II, 1919|Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose
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 negative

negative

/ (ˈnɛɡətɪv) /

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 forms of negative

negatively, 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

Scientific definitions for negative

negative

[ nĕg′ə-tĭv ]

Less than zero.

Having the electric charge or voltage less than zero.

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

negative

OTHER WORDS FOR negative

Idioms about negative

Origin of negative

OTHER WORDS FROM negative

Words related to negative

How to use negative in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for negative

Derived forms of negative

Scientific definitions for negative