| / English Dictionary |
NEGATIVE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A piece of photographic film showing an image with light and shade or colors reversed
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("negative" is a kind of...):
film; photographic film (photographic material consisting of a base of celluloid covered with a photographic emulsion; used to make negatives or transparencies)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A reply of denial
Example:
he answered in the negative
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("negative" is a kind of...):
denial (the act of refusing to comply (as with a request))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "negative"):
double negative (a grammatically substandard but emphatic negative)
Antonym:
affirmative (a reply of affirmation)
Derivation:
negative (vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Involving disadvantage or harm
Example:
minus (or negative) factors
Synonyms:
minus; negative
Classified under:
Similar:
disadvantageous; unfavorable; unfavourable (involving or creating circumstances detrimental to success or effectiveness)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Expressing or consisting of a negation or refusal or denial
Classified under:
Similar:
dissentient; dissenting; dissident (disagreeing, especially with a majority)
Also:
unfavorable; unfavourable (not encouraging or approving or pleasing)
disinclined (unwilling because of mild dislike or disapproval)
Antonym:
affirmative (affirming or giving assent)
Derivation:
negate (prove negative; show to be false)
negate (deny the truth of)
negativeness (characterized by habitual skepticism and a disagreeable tendency to deny or oppose or resist suggestions or commands)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Having a negative charge
Example:
electrons are negative
Synonyms:
electronegative; negative; negatively charged
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
charged (of a particle or body or system; having a net amount of positive or negative electric charge)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Designed or tending to discredit, especially without positive or helpful suggestions
Example:
negative criticism
Synonyms:
damaging; negative
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
destructive (causing destruction or much damage)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Having the quality of something harmful or unpleasant
Example:
delinquents retarded by their negative outlook on life
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
bad (having undesirable or negative qualities)
Derivation:
negativeness (characterized by habitual skepticism and a disagreeable tendency to deny or oppose or resist suggestions or commands)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Characterized by or displaying negation or denial or opposition or resistance; having no positive features
Example:
a negative reaction to an advertising campaign
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
antagonistic; counter (indicating opposition or resistance)
perverse (marked by a disposition to oppose and contradict)
Also:
destructive (causing destruction or much damage)
pessimistic (expecting the worst possible outcome)
unsupportive (not furnishing support or assistance)
Attribute:
quality (an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone)
Antonym:
neutral (possessing no distinctive quality or characteristics)
positive (characterized by or displaying affirmation or acceptance or certainty etc.)
Derivation:
negativity (characterized by habitual skepticism and a disagreeable tendency to deny or oppose or resist suggestions or commands)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Less than zero
Example:
a negative number
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
minus (on the negative side or lower end of a scale)
Domain category:
math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)
Derivation:
negativeness (an amount less than zero)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Reckoned in a direction opposite to that regarded as positive
Example:
negative interest rates
Classified under:
Adjectives
Antonym:
positive (reckoned, situated or tending in the direction which naturally or arbitrarily is taken to indicate increase or progress or onward motion)
Sense 9
Meaning:
Not indicating the presence of microorganisms or disease or a specific condition
Example:
the HIV test was negative
Synonyms:
disconfirming; negative
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
Gram-negative ((of bacteria) being of or relating to a bacterium that does not retain the violet stain used in Gram's method)
Domain category:
medical specialty; medicine (the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques)
Antonym:
positive (indicating existence or presence of a suspected condition or pathogen)
III. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they negative ... he / she / it negatives
Past simple: negatived
Past participle: negatived
-ing form: negativing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent
Example:
The President vetoed the bill
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "negative" is one way to...):
contradict; controvert; oppose (be resistant to)
"Negative" entails doing...:
vote (express a choice or opinion)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "negative"):
defeat; kill; shoot down; vote down; vote out (thwart the passage of)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
negative (a reply of denial)
Context examples:
When the researchers analysed the tumours, they found no evidence of either positive or negative selection.
(The curious tale of the cancer ‘parasite’ that sailed the seas, University of Cambridge)
Measurements from Operation IceBridge also revealed a negative gravity anomaly over the area, which is characteristic of impact craters.
(NASA Finds Possible Second Impact Crater Under Greenland Ice, NASA)
This bacteria is oxidase and catalase positive, reduces nitrate, hydrolyzes urea and is indole negative.
(Actinobacillus ureae, NCI Thesaurus)
This bacteria hydrolyzes esculin, produces acid from xylose and is urease and catalase negative.
(Actinomyces israelii, NCI Thesaurus)
An individual that has tested negative for pulmonary, laryngeal, or pleural tuberculosis but has had a non-cavitary chest x-ray that is consistent with tuberculosis.
(Medium-priority Tuberculosis Subject, NCI Thesaurus)
This protein is involved in the negative regulation of transcription, cell proliferation and signaling.
(Menin, NCI Thesaurus)
A species of anaerobic, Gram negative rod shaped bacteria assigned to the phylum Proteobacteria.
(Actinobacillus suis, NCI Thesaurus)
A species of anaerobic, Gram negative, rod shaped bacteria assigned to the phylum Proteobacteria.
(Actinobacillus equuli, NCI Thesaurus)
This gene plays a role in signal transduction and negative regulation of cell proliferation.
(ABL1 Gene, NCI Thesaurus)
A genus of aerobic, Gram negative bacterium assigned to the phylum Proteobacteria and the family Alcaligenaceae.
(Achromobacter, NCI Thesaurus)
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