Intransitive
//ɪnˈtɹænsətɪv// adj, noun
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An intransitive verb.
"This means that subcategorization properties do not allow us to distinguish between transitives and intransitives (both types of verbs are allowed, but not obliged, to take a direct object)."
- 2 a verb (or verb construction) that does not take an object wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Not transitive: not having, or not taking, a direct object. not-comparable
"The word "drink" is a transitive verb in "they drink wine", but an intransitive one in "they drink often.""
- 2 Not transitive or passing further; kept; detained. not-comparable, rare
"1664-1667, Jeremy Taylor, Dissuasive from Popery And then it is for the image's sake and so far is intransitive; but whatever is paid more to the image is transitive and passes further."
- 3 Of a set of dice: containing three dice A, B, and C, with the property that A rolls higher than B more than half the time, and B rolls higher than C more than half the time, but lacking the property that A rolls higher than C more than half the time. See intransitive dice and intransitive game. not-comparable
Adjective
- 1 designating a verb that does not require or cannot take a direct object wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"A complete intransitive verb takes neither complement nor object."
Etymology
From in- + transitive.
Related phrases
More for "intransitive"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.