Reference.com

400 results for: positive

Dictionary Entries (21 more entries. View all »)
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Cite This Source
pos·i·tive    Audio Help   [poz-i-tiv] Pronunciation Key
–adjective
1.explicitly stated, stipulated, or expressed: a positive acceptance of the agreement.
2.admitting of no question: positive proof.
3.stated; express; emphatic: a positive denial.
4.confident in opinion or assertion; fully assured: He is positive that he will win the contest.
5.overconfident or dogmatic: The less he knows, the more positive he gets.
6.without relation to or comparison with other things; not relative or comparative; absolute.
7.Informal. downright; out-and-out: She's a positive genius.
8.determined by enactment or convention; arbitrarily laid down: positive law.
9.emphasizing what is laudable, hopeful, or to the good; constructive: a positive attitude toward the future; positive things to say about a painting.
10.not speculative or theoretical; practical: a positive approach to the problem.
11.possessing an actual force, being, existence, etc.
12.Philosophy.
a.constructive and sure, rather than skeptical.
b.concerned with or based on matters of experience: positive philosophy.
13.showing or expressing approval or agreement; favorable: a positive reaction to the speech.
14.consisting in or characterized by the presence or possession of distinguishing or marked qualities or features (opposed to negative): Light is positive, darkness negative.
15.noting the presence of such qualities, as a term.
16.measured or proceeding in a direction assumed as beneficial, progressive, or auspicious: a positive upturn in the stock market.
17.Electricity.
a.of, pertaining to, or characterized by positive electricity.
b.indicating a point in a circuit that has a higher potential than that of another point, the current flowing from the point of higher potential to the point of lower potential.
18.of, pertaining to, or noting the north pole of a magnet.
19.Chemistry. (of an element or group) tending to lose electrons and become positively charged; basic.
20.Grammar. being, noting, or pertaining to the initial degree of the comparison of adjectives and adverbs, as the positive form good. Compare comparative (def. 4), superlative (def. 2).
21.Medicine/Medical.
a.(of blood, affected tissue, etc.) showing the presence of disease.
b.(of a diagnostic test) indicating disease.
22.Biochemistry. Rh factor.
23.Mathematics. noting a quantity greater than zero.
24.(of government) assuming control or regulation of activities beyond those involved merely with the maintenance of law and order.
25.Biology. oriented or moving toward the focus of excitation: a positive tropism.
26.Photography. denoting a print or transparency showing the brightness values as they are in the subject.
27.Machinery. noting or pertaining to a process or machine part having a fixed or certain operation, esp. as the result of elimination of play, free motion, etc.: positive lubrication.
–noun
28.something positive.
29.a positive quality or characteristic.
30.a positive quantity or symbol.
31.Grammar.
a.the positive degree.
b.a form in the positive, as good or smooth.
32.Photography. a positive image, as on a print or transparency.
[Origin: 1250–1300; < L positīvus; r. ME positif < MF < L, as above. See posit, -ive]

—Related forms
pos·i·tive·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1. definite, unequivocal, categorical, clear, precise, sure. 2. incontrovertible, indisputable. 4. unquestioning. 4, 5. See sure.
—Antonyms 1. indefinite. 2. doubtful. 4. unsure, unconfident, uncertain.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Thesaurus Entries (6 more entries. View all »)
  Roget's II: The New ThesaurusCite This Source
Main Entry:  positive
Part of Speech:  adjective
Definition:  Of a constructive nature.
Synonyms:  affirmative
Source:  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition
by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary.
Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
  Synonym Collection v1.1Cite This Source
Main Entry:  positive
Part of Speech:  adjective
Synonyms:  absolute, actual, affirmative, arbitrary, assertive, assured, beneficial, categorical, certain, clear, cocksure, complete, conclusive, concrete, confident, decided, decisive, definite, definitive, dogmatic, downright, emphatic, empirical, explicit, firm, genuine, helpful, indisputable, opinionated, peremptory, plus, practical, precise, real, self-assured, substantive, sure, unconditional, undisputed, unequivocal, unmistakable, unqualified, useful, veritable, catagorical, convinced, thetical
Source:  Synonym Collection v1.1
Copyright © 2008 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC.
  Synonym Collection v1.1Cite This Source
Main Entry:  positive
Part of Speech:  noun
Synonyms:  absolute, unconditionality
Source:  Synonym Collection v1.1
Copyright © 2008 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC.

Encyclopedia Articles (368 more entries. View all »)
Columbia Electronic EncyclopediaCite This Source


positive: see photographic processing. 
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press




View results from: Dictionary | Thesaurus | Encyclopedia | All Reference | the Web







Perform a new search, or try your search for "positive" at: