# passive

Pronunciation: say "PAS-iv" /ˈpæs.ɪv/

## Adjective

1. Choosing not to act or respond, and letting events take their own course.
   - Simple: Not doing anything and letting things happen instead of acting.
   - _The committee remained passive while the funding problem grew worse._
   - _Critics accused officials of taking a passive stance toward the flooding._
2. Acted upon by an outside force or influence while producing no reaction of one's own.
   - Simple: Having things done to you from outside without doing anything back.
   - _The material stays passive, deforming under pressure without pushing back._
   - _A passive sensor merely detects incoming signals rather than emitting any itself._
3. Describing a clause or verb construction in which the grammatical subject undergoes the action rather than performing it.
   - Simple: Describing a sentence where the subject receives the action instead of doing it.
   - _The editor flagged every passive sentence in the report for revision._
   - _In a passive construction, the agent is often left out entirely._
6. Inactive and submissive within a relationship, content to be led rather than to take the initiative, especially in a sexual context.
   - Simple: Not taking charge in a relationship, and letting the other person lead.
   - _Therapists noted that he adopted a passive role with every partner he dated._
   - _Her passive demeanor in the marriage left all the big choices to her husband._
7. Not taking part in the management or daily running of a business or investment.
   - Simple: Owning part of a business but not helping to run it.
   - _The fund offers passive investors steady returns without any hands-on involvement._
   - _Her role in the company is entirely passive; she leaves operations to the managing partners._
8. Lacking any source of motive power of its own; moving only under external or stored forces.
   - Simple: Having no engine or power of its own to move.
   - _Engineers tracked the passive probe as it coasted toward the outer planets._
   - _A passive glider relies entirely on air currents to stay aloft._
9. Of an electronic component that consumes energy without producing it and cannot amplify a signal.
   - Simple: Describing a part that uses energy but cannot make or boost it.
   - _Resistors, capacitors, and inductors are the classic passive components of a circuit._
   - _The filter is entirely passive, drawing no external power to do its work._
11. Set up so that allowance is made in advance for a possible future event.
   - Simple: Set up to deal with something that might happen later.
   - _The budget keeps a passive allocation in case revenues fall short next year._
   - _A passive safeguard in the system activates only if temperatures ever exceed the limit._

## Noun

4. The grammatical voice in which the subject is the receiver of the verb's action rather than its performer.
   - Simple: The way of forming verbs where the subject has the action done to it.
   - _Scientific papers rely heavily on the passive to sound objective._
   - _She rewrote the paragraph in the passive to shift focus onto the results._
5. A verb form cast in the passive voice, in which the subject denotes the entity undergoing the action.
   - Simple: A verb form that shows the action being done to the subject.
   - _The grammar drill required turning ten actives into passives._
   - _He underlined every passive in his draft and replaced half of them._
10. An electronic component that consumes or stores energy without producing it and offers no power gain.
   - Simple: An electronic part that uses energy but cannot make or boost it.
   - _The technician replaced a faulty passive near the power input._
   - _Surface-mount passives have shrunk dramatically over the past few decades._
12. A customer who is content with a product or service yet not enthusiastic enough to recommend it to others.
   - Simple: A customer who likes a product but won't tell other people about it.
   - _The survey classified most respondents as passives rather than promoters._
   - _Turning a passive into an active advocate is a key marketing goal._
13. Ellipsis of passive attack. — Ellipsis of passive attack.
   - Simple: Short form of passive attack. It's a clipped way gamers say the longer term.
   - _The champion's passive deals bonus damage every few seconds._
   - _Stacking items boosted the damage of her passive considerably._
14. Something whose value steadily decreases over time.
   - Simple: Something that loses its value as time goes by.
   - _Financial advisors warn that a flashy car is a passive, not an investment._
   - _Most consumer electronics end up as passives within a couple of years._

## Origin

From Middle English passyf, from French passif, from Latin passivus (meaning able to suffer or feel), from passus, the past participle of pati ("to suffer"), ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to hurt"; compare patient.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/passive (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).