negative

negative is on the Academic Word List.

Pronunciation

• (Canada) IPA ^(key): /ˈnɛ(e)gəˌɾɪv/
• (UK) IPA ^(key): /ˈnɛg.ə.tɪv/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

Positive negative

Comparative more negative

Superlative most negative

1. If something is negative, it is harmful, sad, or otherwise not good.

   You can believe or not believe, that there's a positive and negative side to everything.

2. If a word, sentence, answer, etc. is negative, it uses a word like no, not, never, etc.

   Can't is the negative form of can.

3. If someone is a negative person or has a negative attitude, they mainly think about bad things.

   Her negative attitudes were the result of a hard life.

   We were all depressed by his negative comments.

4. If a test result is negative, the test did not find what it was testing for.

   There's nothing to worry about. The HIV test is negative.

5. (technical) A negative electrical charge is one carried by an electron.

   Attach the wire to the negative pole of the battery.

6. A negative number or value is less than zero.

   A positive number multiplied by a negative number results in a negative.

   The Celsius scale of temperature is not absolute since negative values are possible.

7. (psychology) A negative symptom is one where something is missing. Usually this is for schizophrenia.

   His negative symptoms included not speaking and not showing emotion.

8. Based on something not being there, not being true, or being reversed, in some other way.

   I tie-bleached my shirt to make a negative image, then tie-dyed it to add a positive image.

   There were negative rules, telling us what not to do, as well as positive ones telling us what to do.

Synonyms

• bad
• problematic

Antonyms

• positive
• good
• affirmative
• optimistic

Noun

Singular negative

Plural negatives

1. (countable) A negative is a photographic image with reversed colours (e.g., black instead of white).

   Prints are then made from the negatives, and in the case of the B&W I may either tint or tone the final print.

2. (countable) A negative is a word, sentence, answer, etc. that means no.

   When I asked if we could go next week, the answer was a negative.

3. (countable) A negative is something that is harmful, sad, or otherwise not good.

   Right now in Korea there is a negative connected with anything Japanese.

4. (countable) A negative is a test result that did not find what it was testing for.

   In out test group there were 20 negatives and only one positive.

5. (countable); (photography) A negative is a small picture with the colors inverted. Negatives are made on film, then photographs are made from the negatives.

   We saved the negatives and used to make more pictures later.

Synonyms

• problem

Antonyms

• positive
• good
• affirmative

Related words

• negatively
• negativity
• negate