positive

PAH-zi-tiv/ˈpɑzɪtɪv/UKPOZ-i-tiv/ˈpɒzɨtɪv/

30 meanings of positive

1
for the betteradjective
Good or helpful in effect; tending to improve things or to promote health and well-being.
Regular feedback had a positive effect on the students' progress.
The new policy brought positive change to the neighborhood.
UsageOften have a positive effect on something, or a positive impact on it.
Similargood
Oppositebad
2
adjective
Expressing approval or a favorable opinion, as a review, reaction, or report does.
The film received a positive review from most critics.
Customer feedback this quarter has been overwhelmingly positive.
Similarfavorable
Oppositenegative
3
optimisticadjective
Tending to expect good outcomes; optimistic in outlook.
Despite the setbacks, he remained positive about the project's future.
A positive outlook helped her get through the long recovery.
UsageOften positive about something; set phrases are stay positive and think positive.
Similaroptimistic, hopeful, upbeat, sanguine, buoyant
Oppositenegative, pessimistic, gloomy, despondent
4
very sureadjective
Completely certain in one's opinion or belief.
She was positive that she had met him somewhere before.
He sounded positive about the date, though the rest of us had doubts.
UsageUsually after be: I'm positive (that) I locked it, positive about the date. Are you positive? asks if someone is sure.
Similarsure, certain, confident
Oppositeunsure, uncertain, doubtful
5
a yes resultnouncountable
A test result indicating that the substance or condition tested for is present.
The lab reported a positive for influenza.
Two positives turned up in the morning batch of tests.
UsageOften a positive for something. A false positive is a result that wrongly shows something is there.
Oppositenegative
6
good pointnouncountable
A favorable point or feature of something.
One big positive of the job is the flexible schedule.
Let's focus on the positives instead of dwelling on the problems.
UsageOften plural: the positives and negatives, focus on the positives; one is a positive of something.
Similaradvantage, plus, benefit, upside, strength
Oppositenegative, disadvantage, drawback, downside
7
above zeroadjective
Greater than zero.
The equation has two positive roots.
Multiplying two negative numbers always gives a positive result, so negative three times negative four is twelve.
Oppositenegative
Note
Zero is the dividing line here, and zero itself sits outside it. The opposite side splits two ways: negative covers everything below zero, while nonpositive covers zero and everything below. Because the zero-inclusive convention also exists, it pays to say outright that zero is excluded whenever a reader might assume otherwise.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Under the stated convention, zero is neither positive nor negative. openstax.org
Negative numbers are below zero; nonpositive numbers include zero and everything below it. en.wikipedia.org
A convention that includes zero among positive numbers also exists. fr.wikipedia.org
8
adjective
Of a test, result or piece of evidence, showing what was being looked for and so confirming or supporting a hypothesis.
The biopsy was positive, confirming the doctors' suspicions.
A positive result on the screening prompted further tests.
UsageOften test positive for something, or a test comes back positive.
Oppositenegative
9
plus chargeadjective
Having or relating to electric charge of the kind a proton carries, as an atom or ion with more protons than electrons does.
Sodium forms a positive ion by losing a single electron.
Protons carry a positive charge inside the nucleus.
Oppositenegative
Note
The sign is a convention: positive is the kind of charge a proton carries, so an atom with more protons than electrons is positive. That is why a cation is called a positive ion. The pairing with negative is strict and symmetrical here. It carries none of the approval the word has in the "favorable" meaning, so a positive charge is no better than a negative one.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Assigning the positive sign to the proton's charge is a convention. en.wikipedia.org
An atom with more protons than electrons has a positive charge; a positively charged ion is a cation. en.wikipedia.org
10
HIVadjectiveslang
Having tested positive for HIV; carrying the human immunodeficiency virus.
Thanks to modern HIV treatment, many people who are positive now live long, healthy lives.
Many who are positive now live long, healthy lives.
UsageClear only when the context says which test; in writing, HIV-positive in full is safer.
Oppositenegative
Note
Slang that drops the initialism and leaves context to say which test is meant. It pairs naturally with negative. A speaker quoted in William I. Johnston's HIV-Negative (1995) says, "We don't do anything that would cause me to become positive."

Less common meanings

11
blood typeadjective
Of blood or a person: carrying the Rhesus (Rh) factor on the red blood cells; used after the letter of the blood group, as in 'B positive.'
Tests confirmed that the baby's blood was O positive, the same as her father's.
Because he is AB positive, the transfusion team had several matching units ready within minutes.
Oppositenegative
Note
Here the word records an inherited trait, not the outcome of a check: O positive is simply a blood type, and nothing like a positive test result. On donor cards and lab forms it shrinks to a plus sign (A+, O+), with negative and a minus sign as its opposite. Positive is by far the commoner of the two, carried by most people worldwide.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Rh-positive status is inherited. hdft.nhs.uk
Positive in O positive identifies a blood type through the presence of the RhD antigen, rather than expressing a generic positive test result. nhs.uk
Rh-positive blood is substantially more common than Rh-negative blood worldwide. medlineplus.gov
12
explicitadjective
Stated firmly and definitively, without qualification or reservation.
She gave a positive denial of the rumors.
Before leaving, the owner gave positive instructions that no one was to enter his study.
Similarcategorical, definite, firm, emphatic, explicit
Oppositeequivocal, tentative, vague, qualified
13
saying yesadjective
Marked by affirmation; affirming or asserting rather than denying.
The contract requires a positive confirmation from both parties.
Most members gave a positive answer to the proposal, so it passed.
Similaraffirmative
Oppositenegative
14
nouncountable
Something having a positive value in physics, especially a positive electric charge.
The field lines point away from a positive and toward a negative.
Like charges repel, so two positives push away from each other.
Oppositenegative
15
finished picturenouncountable
An image displaying true colors and shades rather than their opposites or complements; the counterpart of a negative.
The photographer compared each positive against the original scene.
Printing a positive from the negative turned the inverted tones back to normal.
Oppositenegative
16
adjective
Of a photograph, slide or other image, showing light, shade and color as they are in the original, not reversed as in a negative.
A positive transparency displays the scene in its true tones.
The lab produced a positive print from the developed negative.
Oppositenegative
Note
A photographer's word for the image that looks like the world: light where the scene was light, dark where it was dark. It is defined against the negative, from which a positive photograph is developed. The noun, a positive image, grows from the same pairing. In the darkroom the two words travel together.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
A positive image preserves the original scene's light and shade relationships. en.wiktionary.org
A positive photograph can be produced from a negative. getty.edu
The photographic noun positive belongs to the same positive–negative pairing. en.wiktionary.org
17
adjective
Actual, real, and concrete; based on fact rather than theory or speculation.
The detective demanded positive evidence rather than mere conjecture.
We have no positive knowledge of what happened to the ship after it left port, only rumors and guesses.
UsageMostly before nouns about knowing: positive proof, positive evidence, positive knowledge.
Similarconcrete, hard, actual, real
Oppositespeculative, theoretical, hypothetical
Note
A philosopher's and investigator's word for what rests on fact, as against theory or guesswork: positive knowledge is knowledge of what is actually there. Read the word as opposed to speculative or theoretical, not as opposed to negative. When the contrast is with what is only relative or comparative, the word is in the "in itself" meaning.
18
not an absenceadjective
Defined by the presence of distinguishing features or qualities, not by their absence.
Physicists treat cold not as a positive quality but simply as the absence of heat.
A positive definition lists the traits a thing has rather than the ones it lacks.
Oppositenegative
19
base degreenouncountable
In grammar, the basic degree of an adjective or adverb, or a word in that degree, as opposed to the comparative and superlative (big, not bigger or biggest).
'Brave' stands as the positive, with 'braver' and 'bravest' as its other degrees.
Most dictionaries list an adjective under its positive, which is why 'happy' gets an entry and 'happier' usually does not.
20
adjective
Of an adjective, adverb or noun, being in its plain base form rather than a comparative, superlative, augmentative or diminutive one.
In grammar, 'small' is the positive form, contrasted with 'smaller' and 'smallest'.
Most dictionaries cite adjectives in their positive form.
Note
The grammarian's base form, the one the other degrees are measured from. Most adjectives build on it regularly, but a few swap stems entirely: good is the positive, and better is its irregular comparative. The term also sets the base form against augmentatives and diminutives, which matters in languages that make those forms freely.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Some adjectives use different roots for their positive and comparative forms, including good and better. home.uni-leipzig.de
The grammatical term positive also distinguishes the basic form from augmentatives and diminutives. en.wiktionary.org
Some languages freely form augmentatives and diminutives. wwwling.arts.kuleuven.be
21
utteradjective
Used before a noun for emphasis, meaning complete or downright, whether the thing named is good or bad (a positive nuisance, a positive joy).
The opening night was a positive disaster from start to finish.
He's a positive genius at fixing old engines.
UsageBefore a noun, usually after a: a positive disaster, a positive genius.
22
adjective
Too sure of being right: so certain as to be dogmatic and unwilling to consider any doubt, used disapprovingly.
He was so positive in his opinions that he never listened to anyone who disagreed with him.
My uncle is positive on every subject, from politics to cooking, and has never once admitted he might be wrong.
Similardogmatic, cocksure, overconfident
Note
Here certainty has curdled into a fault: it is the confidence of the "sure" meaning, held too hard. Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism (1711) mocks "some positive, persisting fops" who, once wrong, insist on staying so. Because the word sounds like ordinary sureness, the context has to carry the criticism. Pairing it with a word like persisting or dogmatic makes the scorn unmistakable.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Alexander Pope wrote An Essay on Criticism. en.wikisource.org
An Essay on Criticism was first published in 1711. en.wikipedia.org
The poem mocks positive, persisting fops who insist on remaining wrong. en.wiktionary.org
23
adjective
Formally laid down by explicit enactment or authority, rather than arising from custom or moral principle.
Positive law derives its authority from official enactment, not tradition.
Unlike the village's old customs, the new building code was positive law, passed by the council and enforced by its inspectors.
UsageMostly in positive law, which is set against natural law.
Similarstatutory
Oppositenatural, customary
Note
Law that someone has set down, and the word's origin says exactly that: Latin positivus, from ponere, "to place," the root it shares with posit. Richard Hooker's Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie (1594) draws the classic line: what is natural binds universally, what is positive does not.
24
adjective
Of an element, electropositive; tending to lose electrons and form positive ions, as metals characteristically do.
The alkali metals are strongly positive, readily losing their outer electron.
Highly positive metals react vigorously with water, releasing hydrogen.
Similarelectropositive
Oppositenegative, electronegative
Note
In chemistry it means the same as electropositive, the fuller term built on it. An element described this way tends to give up electrons, so it ends up as the kind of ion described in the charge sense. Where a reader might confuse the element's tendency with an actual charge, the full form electropositive is the clearer choice.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
An electropositive element tends to give up electrons. en.wiktionary.org
Losing electrons produces a positively charged ion. manoa.hawaii.edu
25
adjective
Of a number or quantity, greater than or equal to zero.
26
adjective
Of metals, bases, and basic radicals, basic or metallic in character rather than acidic; opposed to negative.
27
adjective
Belonging to a thing in itself, not dependent on changing circumstances or relations to other things.
28
noun
Something that can be affirmed; a real or actual thing, as opposed to a negation or denial.
rating Positives by their Privatives
1692, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions
29
adjective
Of a verb form, not made negative, especially in languages such as Finnish that use separate verb forms for affirming and denying.
30
noun
The electrode marked plus in a battery or in a cell used for electrolysis.

Practice

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Origin

Latin ponere ("to place") has a past participle stem that gave Latin positivus, and the word reached English through Old French positif.