What does “positive” mean?
- 1
adjectivehopeful and confident, or thinking about the good parts of a situation
Try to stay positive during the job search.
- 2
adjectivegood or useful
The new rules had a positive effect on safety.
- 3
adjectivecompletely certain, or showing that a test found something
Are you positive you locked the door?
Positive at a glance
- Part of speech
- adjective
- CEFR level
- B1 (intermediate)
- Pronunciation
- /ˈpɑzətɪv/ · PAHZ-uh-tiv
How to use “positive” correctly
A “positive” medical test usually means you do have the illness, which is not good news.
Common phrases with “positive”
- positive attitude
- positive feedback
- test positive
- stay positive
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Antonyms (opposite meaning)
- negative
Word family
- positively
- positivity
“positive” is on these word lists
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