positive
- 01 A2 Elementary
adj.thinking about the good parts of a situation; hopeful and confident.
adj.characterised by or displaying an optimistic attitude or constructive quality.
Simple“Try to stay positive even when things are difficult at work.”
In context“The manager provided positive feedback during the annual review, highlighting several areas where the team had exceeded their quarterly targets.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 B1 Intermediate
adj.completely sure that something is correct or true.
adj.fully assured in opinion or assertion; certain of a fact.
Simple“Are you positive that you locked the front door before we left?”
In context“The witness remained positive about the identity of the suspect, despite intense questioning from the defence attorney.”
- 03 B1 Intermediate
adj.describing a number greater than zero, or a type of electric charge.
adj.denoting a quantity greater than zero, or relating to the kind of electricity that is carried by protons.
Simple“The temperature stayed positive all day, so the ice on the road melted.”
In context“In this chemical reaction, the positive ions migrate toward the cathode while the negative ions move in the opposite direction.”
- 04 B1 Intermediate
adj.showing that a disease or condition is present after a medical test.
adj.indicating the presence of a particular condition, substance, or organism in a clinical test.
Simple“He had a positive test result for the flu and had to stay home.”
In context“The laboratory confirmed a positive result for the antibodies, suggesting that the patient had been exposed to the virus previously.”
- 05 C1 Advanced
adj.the basic form of an adjective, like 'big' instead of 'bigger'.
adj.relating to the primary degree of an adjective or adverb, as opposed to the comparative or superlative.
Simple“In the sentence 'He is tall', the word 'tall' is in the positive degree.”
In context“The student struggled to identify the positive form of the irregular adverb, mistakenly providing the comparative instead.”
Synonymsbase formAntonyms - 06 B1 Intermediate
n.a good quality or a reason to be happy about a situation.
n.a quality or attribute that is advantageous or beneficial.
Simple“One of the positives of the new job is that it is very close to my house.”
In context“Despite the project's failure, the team focused on the positives, such as the new technical skills they had acquired during the process.”
- 07 C2 Proficiency
n.a photograph that shows the real colors, not the opposite ones like a negative.
n.a film or print that shows the images in their natural colours and shades.
Simple“The photographer developed the film and produced a clear positive.”
In context“Before digital sensors became standard, slide film was used to create a transparent positive that could be projected onto a large screen.”
Usage positive development · positive way · positive work
From Old French positif, from Latin positivus, from the past participle stem of ponere (“to place”). Compare posit.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.