Passive

Synonyms for "passive" (236 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Closest matches (48)

Strong matches (70)

Related words (118)

neuter neutral nirvanic nonaligned nonchalant noncommitted nondissenting nonopposing nonpartisan nonresistant nonresisting nonresistive nonviolent numb numbed obedient oblivious olympian on the fence out of it

Show 92 more words

Noun(2 words)

passive attack passive voice

Adjective(1 words)

peaceful

Adjective(3 words)

shy timid uninvolved

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

10 relation types

More general

1 entries

voice

Antonyms

3 entries

active aggressive

Synonyms

6 entries

disinterested idle inactive passive voice peaceful uninvolved

Related terms

4 entries

passion passionate patience patient

derived

63 entries

French passive Greek passive activo-passive antipassive endopassive exopassive impersonal passive interpassive long passive mediopassive neutropassive nonpassive paggro passifan passival passivate

Showing 16 of 63 words.

derived from

1 entries

ive

etymologically related_to

1 entries

patient

has context

4 entries

aviation finance grammar psychology

related to

12 entries

action inactive motive passion passionate passive voice patience patient power reaction submissive verb

similar

8 entries

hands off hands-off nonviolent resistless supine unresisting

Translations

127 translations across 48 languages.

Albanian

1 entries

pësor adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Ancient Greek

2 entries

παθητικός adj (not active, but acted upon)
παθητικός adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Arabic

1 entries

مَبْنِيٌّ لِلْمَجْهُول adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Aramaic

2 entries

ܚܵܫܘܿܫܵܐ adj (not active, but acted upon)
ܚܵܫܘܿܫܵܐ adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Armenian

1 entries

կրավորական adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Azerbaijani

1 entries

məchul adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Belarusian

3 entries

зале́жны adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
пасы́ўны adj (not active, but acted upon)
пасы́ўны adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Bulgarian

4 entries

бездеен adj (taking no action)
паси́вен adj (not active, but acted upon)
паси́вен adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
страда́телен adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Catalan

1 entries

passiu adj (not active, but acted upon)

Chinese Mandarin

3 entries

消極 /消极 adj (not active, but acted upon)
被動 /被动 adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
被動 /被动 adj (psychology: being inactive and receptive in a relationship)

Czech

2 entries

pasivní adj (not active, but acted upon)
trpný adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Danish

1 entries

passiv adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Dutch

4 entries

lijdelijk adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
lijdend adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
passief adj (not active, but acted upon)
passief adj (taking no action)

Estonian

3 entries

loid adj (not active, but acted upon)
loid adj (taking no action)
passiiv adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Finnish

4 entries

koroton adj (finance: not bearing interest)
passiivimuotoinen adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
passiivinen adj (not active, but acted upon)
passiivinen adj (taking no action)

French

2 entries

passif adj (not active, but acted upon)
passif adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

German

4 entries

leidend adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
leidentlich adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
passiv adj (not active, but acted upon)
passiv adj (taking no action)

Greek

1 entries

παθητική adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Hindi

1 entries

निष्क्रिय adj (not active, but acted upon)

Hungarian

2 entries

passzív adj (not active, but acted upon)
szenvedő adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Irish

2 entries

céasta adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
fulangach adj (taking no action)

Italian

3 entries

passivo adj (not active, but acted upon)
passivo adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
passivo adj (psychology: being inactive and receptive in a relationship)

Japanese

3 entries

受け身 adj (not active, but acted upon)
受動態 adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
受動的 adj (not active, but acted upon)

Kannada

1 entries

ಕರ್ಮಣಿ adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Kazakh

1 entries

ырықсыз adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Korean

1 entries

수동태 adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Latin

2 entries

verbum passivum noun (form of verb)
verbum patiendi noun (form of verb)

Lithuanian

1 entries

pasyvus adj (not active, but acted upon)

Macedonian

1 entries

пасивен adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Middle English

4 entries

passyf adj (not active, but acted upon)
passyf adj (taking no action)
passyf adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
passyf noun (form of verb)

Navajo

1 entries

hoołtsoodii adj (psychology: being inactive and receptive in a relationship)

Norwegian

2 entries

passiv adj (taking no action)
passiv adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Old English

1 entries

þrowiendlīċ adj (not active, but acted upon)

Persian

4 entries

مجهول adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
منفعل adj (not active, but acted upon)
پاسیو adj (not active, but acted upon)
پاسیو adj (taking no action)

Polish

4 entries

bierny adj (not active, but acted upon)
bierny adj (taking no action)
bierny adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
strona bierna noun (form of verb)

Portuguese

4 entries

passivo adj (not active, but acted upon)
passivo adj (taking no action)
passivo adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
passivo adj (psychology: being inactive and receptive in a relationship)

Romanian

1 entries

pasiv adj (not active, but acted upon)

Russian

4 entries

безде́ятельный adj (taking no action)
пасси́вный adj (not active, but acted upon)
пасси́вный adj (taking no action)
пасси́вный adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Scottish Gaelic

1 entries

fulangach adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Serbo-Croatian

4 entries

pasivan adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
trpni adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
пасиван adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
трпни adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Slovak

4 entries

nečinný adj (taking no action)
pasívny adj (not active, but acted upon)
pasívny adj (taking no action)
pasívny adj (psychology: being inactive and receptive in a relationship)

Slovene

2 entries

pasiven adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
trpen adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Spanish

2 entries

pasivo adj (not active, but acted upon)
pasivo adj (psychology: being inactive and receptive in a relationship)

Swedish

3 entries

passiv adj (not active, but acted upon)
passiv adj (taking no action)
passiv adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Tagalog

1 entries

balintiyak adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Turkish

3 entries

edilgen adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
pasif adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
pasif adj (psychology: being inactive and receptive in a relationship)

Ukrainian

2 entries

паси́вний adj (not active, but acted upon)
паси́вний adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)

Vietnamese

3 entries

bị động adj (not active, but acted upon)
bị động adj (grammar: being in the passive voice)
thụ động adj (taking no action)

Sample sentences

18 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

Observation is a passive science, experimentation an active science.

Source: tatoeba (20913)

How can you be so passive? Why don't you retaliate?

Source: tatoeba (38747)

Watching TV is a passive activity.

Source: tatoeba (39161)

Watching television changes the role of the fans by making their participation more passive and distant.

Source: tatoeba (39163)

Showing 4 of 18 available sentences.

More for "passive"

Meaning Antonyms Sentences Word Type

Editorial Guides For "passive"

Active vs Passive Voice: When Each Works

Write clearer sentences by choosing active voice by default and passive voice intentionally.

Keep exploring

Compare antonyms Use in sentences Read the blog

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