01 a. Not active, but acted upon; suffering or receiving impressions or influences; as, they were passive spectators, not actors in the scene.
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2.
Receiving or enduring without either active sympathy or active resistance; without emotion or excitement; patient; not opposing; unresisting; as, passive obedience; passive submission.“The best virtue, passive fortitude.” — Massinger.
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3.
Inactive; inert; unreactive; not showing strong affinity; as, red phosphorus is comparatively passive.(Chem.)
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4.
Designating certain morbid conditions, as hemorrhage or dropsy, characterized by relaxation of the vessels and tissues, with deficient vitality and lack of reaction in the affected tissues.(Med.)
Phrases & compounds
Passive congestion —
congestion due to obstruction to the return of the blood from the affected part.
Passive iron —
iron which has been subjected to the action of heat, of strong nitric acid, chlorine, etc. It is then not easily acted upon by acids.
Passive movement —
a movement of a part, in order to exercise it, made without the assistance of the muscles which ordinarily move the part.
Passive obedience —
(as used by writers on government), obedience or submission of the subject or citizen as a duty in all cases to the existing government.
Passive prayer —
among mystic divines, a suspension of the activity of the soul or intellectual faculties, the soul remaining quiet, and yielding only to the impulses of grace.
Passive verb —
a verb, or form of a verb, which expresses the effect of the action of some agent; as, in Latin, doceor, I am taught; in English, she is loved; the picture is admired by all; he is assailed by slander.
Syn.
Inactive; inert; quiescent; unresisting; unopposing; suffering; enduring; submissive; patient.