passive resistance

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See synonyms for: passive resistance / passive resister on Thesaurus.com

noun

opposition to a government or to specific governmental laws by the use of noncooperation and other nonviolent methods, as economic boycotts and protest marches.

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

Compare civil disobedience, noncooperation (def. 2).

Origin of passive resistance

First recorded in 1880–85

OTHER WORDS FROM passive resistance

pas·sive re·sist·er, noun

Words nearby passive resistance

passive margin, passive-matrix, passive noun, passive obedience, passive reason, passive resistance, passive restraint, passive safety, passive smoking, passive transfer, passive vocabulary

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

How to use passive resistance in a sentence

The meme faced partial censorship when it first gained popularity around June, as authorities worried about the sentiment of passive resistance associated with it.
“Lying flat” is officially one of China’s top memes of 2021|Jane Li|December 7, 2021|Quartz
Khin Sandar Nyunt, an ethnographer who has researched nonviolent protest in Myanmar, says the nation’s bloody past must be taken into account when evaluating the tactics of passive resistance.
As Myanmar's Junta Intensifies Its Crackdown, Pro-Democracy Protesters Prepare for Civil War|Kyaw Hsan Hlaing / Yangon|April 7, 2021|Time
Garner became the Gandhi of loosies, offering only the most passive resistance as the police moved to arrest him.
The Gentle Giant Cut Down by Cops|Michael Daly|July 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Although, until they acquire jobs and babies, they practice passive resistance to the third.
Up To A Point: My Problem With People Who Agree With Me|P. J. O’Rourke|July 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

For years Mandela had been urging the ANC to abandon its strict policy of passive resistance.
Mandela: The Miracle Maker|Sam Seibert|December 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Realism justifiably says that they must renounce violence, but when they adopt passive resistance they must renounce that too.
Daniel Gordis Has It Backwards|Mark Baker|December 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST
He wrote the words he hoped would inspire his people to passive resistance.
How Jews Invented Heaven|Lisa Miller|March 28, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Tom had quickly whispered to those nearest the pole not to fight back, but to offer passive resistance.
Tom Fairfield's Schooldays|Allen Chapman
Passive resistance takes on heroic proportions when a duchess and a man-servant confront the Law with haughty immobility.
Humanly Speaking|Samuel McChord Crothers
The attitude of passive resistance is, however, still maintained, and has affected the position of the duchy of Brunswick.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 8|Various
And the passive resistance of those who refused to conform at length gave rise to active opposition.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 15, Slice 4|Various
This attitude of passive resistance, dead as a ball of cotton, was always put on when money was mentioned.
The Immortal|Alphonse Daudet

British Dictionary definitions for passive resistance

passive resistance

noun

resistance to a government, law, etc, made without violence, as by fasting, demonstrating peacefully, or refusing to cooperate

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

Cultural definitions for passive resistance

passive resistance

A technique of demonstrating opposition to a government's activities simply by not cooperating with them. It is particularly associated with Mahatma Gandhi, who opposed violent revolution in his own country's fight for independence. (Compare civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance.)

passive resistance

Origin of passive resistance

OTHER WORDS FROM passive resistance

Words nearby passive resistance

Words related to passive resistance

How to use passive resistance in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for passive resistance

Cultural definitions for passive resistance