passive implies immobility or lack of normally expected response to an external force or influence and often suggests deliberate submissiveness or self-control.

PASSIVE definition: not reacting visibly to something that might be expected to produce manifestations of an emotion or feeling. See examples of passive used in a sentence.

'Catrin told me' is an active sentence, and 'I was told by Catrin' is passive. In a passive sentence, the subject is the person or thing affected by the action of the verb.

Used to describe a form of verb in which the grammatical subject is the object of the action, for example, the sentence “The government took steps.” in the passive would be Steps were taken by the …

Oct 31, 2025 · (grammar) A form of a verb that is in the passive voice. (marketing) A customer who is satisfied with a product or service, but not keen enough to promote it by word of mouth.

Grammar (opposed to active) of, relating to, or being a voice, verb form, or construction that expresses an action that is done to rather than by the subject: In a passive sentence, the subject undergoes the …

If you describe someone as passive, you mean that they do not take action but instead let things happen to them.

Do you know how to use the passive voice to change the focus of a sentence? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

There are 26 meanings listed in OED's entry for the word passive, two of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

Passive definition: Receiving or subjected to an action without responding or initiating an action in return.