as in resigned
receiving or enduring without offering resistance
the union rank and file were surprisingly passive about the givebacks in the new labor contract
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of passive
In a new study from the University of Oregon, scientists turned up the temperature to see which type of passive heat therapy packs the most health punch: hot baths, traditional saunas, or those fancy far-infrared saunas.
—
Pranjal Malewar, New Atlas, 5 July 2025
Women — especially 18 to 30 — aren’t passive viewers.
—Kanika Talwar, Footwear News, 4 July 2025
When the tennis courts were removed, the conservancy regraded the area to allow for the meadows and a more passive space.
—Marina Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 2 July 2025
Juventus are too passive, and Savinho has the time and space to thread a diagonal pass outside left wing-back Filip Kostic.
—Liam Tharme, New York Times, 28 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for passive
Pranjal Malewar, New Atlas, 5 July 2025
Women — especially 18 to 30 — aren’t passive viewers.
—Kanika Talwar, Footwear News, 4 July 2025
When the tennis courts were removed, the conservancy regraded the area to allow for the meadows and a more passive space.
—Marina Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 2 July 2025
Juventus are too passive, and Savinho has the time and space to thread a diagonal pass outside left wing-back Filip Kostic.
—Liam Tharme, New York Times, 28 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for passive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for passive
Adjective
-
If 28 Days Later presaged our post-9/11 paranoia and dread, 28 Years Later settles into the resigned gloom of our modern age, where everything is rubbish and only getting worse.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
20 June 2025
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His resigned air in the press conference felt like a man who had too much to juggle to cross over the line first.—
Tim Ellis,
Forbes.com,
3 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The scale asks whether a respondent tends to prefer children who are obedient, well behaved and well mannered or children who are independent, creative and considerate.—
Adam Eichen,
The Conversation,
11 June 2025
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Those who tend to favor obedient children are scored as having more authoritarian views.—
Adam Eichen,
The Conversation,
11 June 2025
Adjective
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Where Chelsea’s domestic overseers have been largely acquiescent to their accounting ingenuity, the same can’t be said abroad.—
Chris Weatherspoon,
New York Times,
21 Apr. 2025
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Netanyahu appears convinced that his country’s security, along with his own political survival, depends on prolonging the military offensives and keeping both Gaza and Lebanon ungovernable, and therefore acquiescent.—
Mohanad Hage Ali,
Foreign Affairs,
1 Nov. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Passive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/passive. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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