passive.
Being subjected to an action without producing a reaction.
Meaning & usage
Being subjected to an action without producing a reaction.
Taking no action.
He remained passive during the protest.
Being in the passive voice.
Being inactive and submissive in a relationship, especially in a sexual one.
Not participating in management.
Without motive power.
a passive balloon
a passive aeroplane
Of a component: that consumes but does not produce energy, or is incapable of power gain.
Where allowance is made for a possible future event.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English passyf, passyve, from Middle French, French passif, from Latin passivus (“serving to express the suffering of an action; in late Latin literally capable of suffering or feeling”), from passus, past participle of pati (“to suffer”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”); compare patient.
The passive voice of verbs.
A form of a verb that is in the passive voice.
A customer who is satisfied with a product or service, but not keen enough to promote it by word of mouth.
Any component that consumes but does not produce energy, or is incapable of power gain.
Ellipsis of passive attack.
A thing whose worth decreases with time.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English passyf, passyve, from Middle French, French passif, from Latin passivus (“serving to express the suffering of an action; in late Latin literally capable of suffering or feeling”), from passus, past participle of pati (“to suffer”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”); compare patient.
Try it on your idea.
passive has 7 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.