passive

The word “passive” means accepting what happens without acting to change or resist it. In plain terms, not taking action — letting things happen rather than making them happen.

“Passive” is pronounced PAS-ihv (/ˈpæs.ɪv/ in IPA).

Here is “passive” used in a sentence: “He took a passive approach and let others make the decisions.”

Words with a similar meaning to “passive” include disinterested and uninvolved.

“Passive” is an adjective.

The word “passive” comes from Latin. From Latin passivus, "capable of suffering or being acted upon," from pati, "to suffer.".

“Passive” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Passive” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: accepting what happens without acting to change or resist it.

In the active voice the subject performs the action, as in "The dog chased the ball." In the passive voice the subject receives the action, as in "The ball was chased by the dog," and the verb is formed with be plus a past participle.

No, the passive is fully grammatical and is the natural choice when the doer of the action is unknown or unimportant, as in "My car was stolen." It is only criticised when overused, because too much passive can make writing vague and wordy.

A passive person accepts what happens without acting to change or resist it. A passive-aggressive person appears to comply but expresses resistance indirectly, for example through sulking, delays, or subtle digs, rather than stating objections openly.