passive aggression
1
6.8
- noun
- /ˈpæsɪv əˈɡrɛʃən/
:
agresión pasiva
- Well, when you start with the passive-aggression, you stick with it; I'll give you that.
Now in a close relationship, passive aggression feels absolutely awful.
- Now in a close relationship, passive aggression feels absolutely awful.
- My go to was passive aggression, going cold, going on the attack, creating an argument, distancing myself from someone all together.
- Now the passive aggression does something different to us.
Examples
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Fear of punishment either goes away or produces resentment and a kind of passive aggression.
Blog text (25) -
Now in a close relationship, passive aggression feels absolutely awful.
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Though I could have done without the passive aggression.
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Political correctness and passive aggression go hand-in-hand, you see.
Blog text (31) -
The thing about that is that very often repressed emotion wiggles its way to the surface in other ways, such as passive aggression.
Blog text (22) -
At least by her own reporting, he agreed that the procedure is something that should be done, and he agreed to have it done and is now simply putting it off in a stunning display of immaturity and passive-aggression.
Blog text (6) -
I'm detecting passive aggression.
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"She's grinning at him, but his face remains glum, the disappointed perfection of passive aggression."
Fiction book (2000) -
Putting things off is a common indicator of passive aggression.
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I'm detecting passive aggression in his responses to the team.
Antonyms
How Hostile
- Offensive
∞
2.8
101
3.5
1
6.8
22
4.4
16
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'indirectly expressing hostility' follows directly from combining 'passive' (unassertive/inactive) with 'aggression' (hostile behaviour): it denotes aggression expressed in a passive or indirect manner. This adjective+noun composition is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern and thus a B1 learner who knows both constituents will typically infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Passive aggression comes from a clear image: passive means quiet or not acting, and aggression means an angry action. Imagine someone who will not say they are upset but hurts others with small, quiet acts—missing a deadline or the silent treatment—so passive aggression means 'showing anger or hostility in indirect ways'.