PASSIVE Synonyms: 76 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How is the word 'passive' different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of passive are idle , inactive , inert , and supine . While all these words mean "not engaged in work or activity," passive implies immobility or lack of normally expected response to an external force or influence and often suggests deliberate submissiveness or self-control. // passive resistance

Q: When might 'idle' be a better fit than 'passive'?

While in some cases nearly identical to passive , idle applies to persons that are not busy or occupied or to their powers or their implements. // workers were idle in the fields

Q: When can 'inactive' be used instead of 'passive'?

Although the words inactive and passive have much in common, inactive applies to anyone or anything not in action or in operation or at work. // on inactive status as an astronaut // inactive accounts

Q: Where would 'inert' be a reasonable alternative to 'passive'?

While the synonyms inert and passive are close in meaning, inert as applied to things implies powerlessness to move or to affect other things; as applied to persons it suggests an inherent or habitual indisposition to activity. // inert ingredients in drugs // an inert citizenry

Q: When is 'supine' a more appropriate choice than 'passive'?

The words supine and passive are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, supine applies only to persons and commonly implies abjectness or indolence. // a supine willingness to play the fool

passive

adjective

ˈpa-siv

Definition of passive next

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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How is the word passive different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of passive are idle, inactive, inert, and supine. While all these words mean "not engaged in work or activity," passive implies immobility or lack of normally expected response to an external force or influence and often suggests deliberate submissiveness or self-control.

passive resistance

When might idle be a better fit than passive?

While in some cases nearly identical to passive, idle applies to persons that are not busy or occupied or to their powers or their implements.

workers were idle in the fields

When can inactive be used instead of passive?

Although the words inactive and passive have much in common, inactive applies to anyone or anything not in action or in operation or at work.

on inactive status as an astronaut

inactive accounts

Where would inert be a reasonable alternative to passive?

While the synonyms inert and passive are close in meaning, inert as applied to things implies powerlessness to move or to affect other things; as applied to persons it suggests an inherent or habitual indisposition to activity.

inert ingredients in drugs

an inert citizenry

When is supine a more appropriate choice than passive?

The words supine and passive are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, supine applies only to persons and commonly implies abjectness or indolence.

a supine willingness to play the fool

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of passive What's a passive home and what can L.A, learn from Colorado's worst fire? —

David Schechter, CBS News, 16 Jan. 2025 The front of the doorbell holds the camera assembly, a doorbell button with an LED ring, a passive infrared (PIR) motion sensor, an indicator LED, two microphones, two infrared LEDs for black-and-white night vision, and an ambient light sensor. —

PCMAG, 15 Jan. 2025 The Governor also called for the installation of passive platform barriers — meant to protect riders from falling or being pushed onto the tracks — at 100 additional stations. —

Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 14 Jan. 2025 Where the novel viewed race with passive indifference, the musical faced it head-on, building out peripheral Black characters and opening with a Black chorus, followed in the same scene by a white one, integrating what was typically kept on separate stages. —

Joshua Barone, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for passive

Recent Examples of Synonyms for passive

Adjective

Suddenly, a season of weekly must-win games and hard conversations gave way to a resigned relaxation.

— Paul Dehner Jr., The Athletic, 27 Dec. 2024
Crowds gathering for the Royal Horticultural Society’s Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival on the sprawling palace grounds reached into backpacks for umbrellas with the resigned look of people attending a supremely English occasion designed to be held in sunshine.

— Sophie Elmhirst, The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2024