Passively

adv

adv ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    In a passive manner; without conscious or self-directed action. not-comparable

    "Water flowed passively between tanks via the siphon."

  2. 2
    In an acquiescent manner; resignedly or submissively. not-comparable

    "Paradoxically, the same faculty who complain about busyness are most likely to end up waiting passively. While they acquiescently wait to write, they busy themselves with other, often trivial, activities."

  3. 3
    In the passive voice; having a passive construction. not-comparable

    "Statements phrased in an active voice, with a few outcome-oriented goals, improve school performance more than those stated passively with either multiple goals or goals focused on processes or behaviors."

Adverb
  1. 1
    in a passive manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
automaticallyautomaticallycoldlyheavilymeeklymindlessly

Example

More examples

"He's learning Berber passively."

Etymology

From passive + -ly.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.