How do you pronounce negative?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˈnɛɡ.ə.tɪv/.

Where does negative come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

negative

/ˈnɛɡ.ə.tɪv/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.79 in modern English

Syllables: neg-a-tive
IPA: /ˈnɛɡ.ə.tɪv/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Not positive or neutral; bad; undesirable; unfavourable.

adj

Of a number: less than zero.

adj

Of a number: less than zero.

adj

Of a test result: not positive, not detected.

adj

Of electrical charge of an electron and related particles

adj

Denying a proposition; negating a concept.

adj

Pessimistic; not tending to see the bright side of things.

adj

Of or relating to a photographic image in which the colours of the original, and the relations of left and right, are reversed.

Example Sentences

"The high exchange rate will have a negative effect on our profits."
"Customers didn’t like it: feedback was mostly negative."
"I was out in negative weather today."
"negative detection of."
"Marx had said that the negative freedom of the liberal bourgeois tradition would have no place in socialist society, as it only expressed the antagonistic character of society."
"I don’t like to hang around him very much because he can be so negative about his petty problems."

Etymology

From Middle English negative, negatif, from Old French negatif, from Latin negātīvus (“that denies, negative”), from negāre (“to deny”); see negate.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *h₁eǵ-, negative, negatif, negātīvus

Usage

Inflected Forms

more negative (comparative) most negative (superlative) -ve (alternative, abbreviation) −ve (alternative, abbreviation) negatives (plural) negatives (present, singular) negativing (participle, present) negatived (participle, past) negatived (past)

Derived Forms

binegative electronegative geonegative homonegative hypernegative immunonegative negamile negativate negatively negativeness negativist negativistic

Phrases

A negative body negative carbon negative go negative gram-negative HIV-negative negative atheist negative bath

Frequently Paired Words

negate negation negativism negatory diapositive

Synonyms

bad undesirable abysmal atrocious awful chronic coarse corny crap crapalicious crappy crummy

Antonyms

positive good acceptable agreeable all right amazing as fine as Dick's hatband awesome beatific bene blissful bodacious