Active
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈæktɪv/
Origin
From Middle English actif, from Old French actif, from Latin activus, from agere ("to do, to act"); see act.
Full definition of active
Adjective
active
- Having the power or quality of acting; causing change; communicating action or motion; acting; — opposed to passive, that receives.certain active principles; the active powers of the mind
- Quick in physical movement; of an agile and vigorous body; nimble.an active child or animal
- In action; actually proceeding; working; in force; — opposed to quiescent, dormant, or extinct.active laws; active hostilities
- (specifically, of a volcano) Being an active volcano.
- Given to action; constantly engaged in action; energetic; diligent; busy; — opposed to dull, sluggish, indolent, or inert.an active man of business; active mind; active zeal
- 1910, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price Chapter 1, This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking....He was smooth-faced, and his fresh skin and well-developed figure bespoke the man in good physical condition through active exercise, yet well content with the world's apportionment.
- Requiring or implying action or exertion; — opposed to sedentary or to tranquil.active employment or service active scenes
- Given to action rather than contemplation; practical; operative; — opposed to speculative or theoretical.an active rather than a speculative statesman
- Brisk; lively.an active demand for corn
- Implying or producing rapid action.an active disease; an active remedy
- (grammar) About verbs.
- Applied to a form of the verb; — opposed to passive. See active voice.
- Applied to verbs which assert that the subject acts upon or affects something else; transitive.
- Applied to all verbs that express action as distinct from mere existence or state.
- (gay sexual slang) of a homosexual man enjoying a role in anal sex in which he penetrates, rather than being penetrated by his partner.