negative

See also négative

English

Etymology

From Latin negativus (“that denies, negative”), from negare (“to deny”); see negate.

Pronunciation

• (Canada) IPA: /ˈnɛ(e)ɡəˌɾɪv/
• (UK) IPA: /ˈnɛɡ.ə.tɪv/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

negative (comparative more negative, superlative most negative)

1. not positive or neutral
2. pessimistic; not tending to see the bright side of things. (Often used pejoratively.)

   • I don't like to hang around him very much, because he can be so negative about his petty problems.

3. damaging; undesirable; unfavourable

   • The high exchange rate will have a negative effect on our profits.

     Customers didn't like it: feedback was mostly negative.

4. (mathematics) of number, less than zero
5. (physics) of electrical charge of an electron and related particles [from the 18th c.]
6. (linguistics) (logic) denying a proposition

Synonyms

• (damaging): undesirable

Antonyms

• positive
• (mathematics): nonnegative
• (linguistics): affirmative

Derived terms

• negativeness
• negativity
• negative number
• negative integer
• negative polarity item
• negative repetition
• negative Nancy
• negative verb
• negative zero

Related terms

• negate
• negation
• negativism

Translations

not positive

Arabic: سلبي (ar) (sálbiy) Catalan: negatiu (ca) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 否定的 (cmn) (fǒudìng-de) Czech: negativní (cs) Dutch: negatief (nl) Esperanto: negativa (eo) Finnish: negatiivinen (fi), kielteinen (fi) French: négatif (fr) German: negativ (de) Hebrew: שלילי (he) (shlilí) m., שלילית (he) (shlilít) f.

Hungarian: negatív (hu) Irish: diúltach (ga) Italian: negativo (it) Japanese: 否定の (ja) (ひていの, hitei-no), 否定的な (ja) (ひていてきな, hiteiteki-na) Korean: 소극적인 (sogeukjeokin) Norwegian: negativ (no) Portuguese: negativo (pt) Russian: отрицательный (ru) (otricátel’nyj), негативный (ru) (negatívnyj) Spanish: negativo (es) Swedish: negativ (sv) Welsh: negyddol (cy)

inherently damaging

Chinese: Mandarin: 消極 (cmn), 消极 (cmn) (xiāojí)

German: schlecht (de), negativ (de) Russian: отрицательный (ru) (otricátel’nyj), негативный (ru) (negatívnyj)

in mathematics

Catalan: negatiu (ca) m., estrictament negatiu (ca) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 負 (cmn), 负 (cmn) (fù) Czech: záporný (cs) Dutch: negatief (nl)

French: strictement négatif (fr) Japanese: 負 (ja) (fu) Korean: 음 (ko) (eum) Lojban: ni'u (jbo) Russian: отрицательный (ru) (otricátel’nyj) Swedish: negativ (sv)

of electrical charge

Arabic: سلبي (ar) (sálbiy) Catalan: negatiu (ca) m. Czech: záporný (cs) m. Dutch: negatief (nl) Finnish: negatiivinen (fi) French: négatif (fr) German: negativ (de) Hebrew: שלילי (he) (shlilí) m., שלילית (he) (shlilít) f. Hungarian: negatív (hu)

Irish: diúltach (ga) Italian: negativo (it) Norwegian: negativ (no) Portuguese: negativo (pt) Russian: отрицательный (ru) (otricátel’nyj) Spanish: negativo (es) Swedish: negativ (sv) Telugu: ఋణాత్మక (ruNaatmaka)

Noun

negative (plural negatives)

1. refusal or withholding of assents; veto, prohibition [from the 15th c.]
   • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. XV, Practical — Devotional

     Geoffrey Riddell Bishop of Ely […] made a request of him for timber from his woods towards certain edifices going on at Glemsford. The Abbot, a great builder himself, disliked the request; could not however give it a negative.

2. (photography) an image in which dark areas represent light ones, and the converse [from the 19th c.]
3. (grammar) a word that indicates negation
4. (mathematics) a negative quantity
5. (weightlifting): A rep performed with weight in which the muscle begins at maximum contraction and is slowly extended; a movement performed using only the eccentric phase of muscle movement.

Derived terms

• double negative
• internegative

Translations

photography

Arabic: صورة سالبة (ar) (Suura saaliba) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 底片 (cmn) (dǐpiàn) Czech: negativ (cs) m. Finnish: negatiivi (fi) French: négatif (fr) m., film négatif (fr) m. German: Negativfilm (de) m., Negativ (de) n. Hebrew: תשליל (he) (tashlíl) m., נגטיב (he) (negatív) m.

Irish: claonchló (ga) m. Italian: negativo (it) m., negativa (it) f. Japanese: ネガフィルム (ja) (negafirumu) Polish: negatyw (pl) m. Russian: негатив (ru) (negatív) m. Spanish: negativo (es) m. Swedish: negativ (sv) n. Turkish: negatif (tr)

grammar

Finnish: kieltosana Irish: diúltach (ga) m. Italian: negativa (it) f.

Russian: отрицание (ru) (otricánije) n. Turkish: olumsuz (tr)

mathematics

Chinese: Mandarin: 负  (zh) (fù) Finnish: negatiivinen luku Hebrew: שלילי (he) (shlilí) m.

Italian: negativo (it) m. Portuguese: negativo (pt) m. Russian: отрицательная величина (ru) (otricátel’naja veličiná) f. Spanish: negativo (es) m.

Verb

negative (third-person singular simple present negatives, present participle negativing, simple past and past participle negatived)

1. To veto
2. To contradict
3. To disprove

Anagrams

• agentive

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Italian

Noun

negative f.

1. Plural form of negativa.

Anagrams

• negatevi

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Latin

Adjective

negātīve

1. vocative masculine singular of negātīvus

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Swedish

Adjective

negative

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of negativ.