- pos|i|tive
- pos|i|tive «POZ uh tihv», adjective, noun.–adj.1. permitting no question; without doubt: »
positive proof. We have positive knowledge that the earth moves around the sun.
SYNONYM(S): unquestionable, unmistakable, indisputable.2. sure; confident: »Are you positive you can go? Nor is Socrates positive of anything but the duty of enquiry (Benjamin Jowett).
3. too sure; too confident: »A positive manner annoys some people. He was a very positive man—the embodiment of authority (Harper's).
SYNONYM(S): dogmatic.4. a) definite; emphatic: »“No. I will not,” was his positive refusal.
SYNONYM(S): imperative, express. b) Informal. downright; out-and-out: »Most of the luxuries…are positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind (Thoreau).
5. that can be thought of as real and present: »Light is a positive thing; darkness is only the absence of light.
6. showing that a particular disease, condition, germ, or agent is present.7. that surely does something or adds something; practical: »Don't just make negative criticisms; give us some positive help. The children's constant thought of one another constitutes a positive value (Saturday Review).
8. tending in the direction thought of as that of increase or progress: »Motion in the direction that the hands of the clock move is positive.
10. a) of the kind of electricity produced on glass when it is rubbed with silk; lacking electrons. b) characterized by the presence or production of such electricity.11. having a tendency to lose electrons, and thus to become charged with positive electricity: »Hydrogen and the metals have a positive valence.
12. Photography. having the lines and shadows in the same position as in the original: »the positive image on a print.
13. of the simple form of an adjective or adverb.14. Biology. moving or turning toward light, the earth, or any other stimulus: »If a plant organ reacts by turning toward the source of a stimulus, it exhibits a positive tropism (Fred W. Emerson).
15. arbitrarily laid down or imposed; determined by enactment or convention: »positive law.
16. Philosophy. concerned with or based on matters of experience; not speculative or theoretical; empirical.18. in machinery: a) dependable because determined by a firm structure or by exactly controlled forces or movements: »a positive stroke.
b) functioning for the special purpose required: »positive lubrication.
19. U.S. of or having to do with commodities which cannot be shipped to other countries without an individual export license: »The Commerce Department added several scientific items to its positive list and eased restrictions on others (Wall Street Journal).
–n.1. a positive degree or quantity.2. the positive element in an electric battery.3. Photography. a print made from a photographic film or plate.4. the simple form of an adjective or adverb as distinct from the comparative and superlative. Fast is the positive; faster is the comparative; fastest is the superlative.╂[< Latin positīvus, ultimately < pōnere to set]–pos´i|tive|ness, noun.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.
