Skip to main content
positive

positive

11 5.9
Having an electric charge like a proton
  • adjective
  • /ˈpɑːzɪtɪv/
  • Specialized
: positivo
  • Ms. Orcutt's blood type is O-positive.
  • positive charge
  • positive and negative
  • positive current

So there was the electrons where these negative point particles inside a positive field.

Examples

  • The storm sends down a negative charge, basically searching for positive charges on the ground.

  • When I do, you take this end of this cable... ...hook it up to the positive side of the boat battery.

  • Pull up the positive charge on the oxygen.

  • The good news is, he is O positive, and we've got lots of that.

  • Such trauma can be avoided by means of continuous positive airway pressure mask support.

    Academic text (1992)
  • We found a positive correlation between strains with superior spreading capacity and their relative immunogenicity.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Solid materials have atoms in their interiors containing lots of positive electric charges.

  • The remaining atom, now ionized, with a net positive charge, readily recombines with other free-flying electrons nearby.

Synonyms

positively charged
vspositive
  • Specialized
3 5.1

Having more positive than negative electric particles

is defined specifically as the charge carried by protons rather than electrons
cationic
vspositive
  • Specialized
1 7.8

Having a positive electric charge, often in water

refers to the single proton-carried charge itself rather than to ions
electropositive
vspositive
  • Specialized
1 9.8

Likely to lose electrons and become positively charged

focuses on the basic proton-carried charge rather than an element's tendency

Antonyms

negative
  • Specialized
135 3.2

Less than zero in amount, value, or temperature

Compounds

A way of thinking that is hopeful and looks for solutions

A result that is good or wanted

positive energy
  • Informal
15 3.5

A hopeful, friendly feeling that makes people feel happy and active

Comments that praise or encourage someone's work

Clear proof that a person is who they say they are

positive feedback
  • Specialized
8 4.3

A process where a small change causes larger changes in a system

positive charge
  • Specialized
4 3.9

An electrical state when an object has fewer electrons than protons

When one thing goes up or down, the other goes the same way

Rh positive
  • Specialized
1 4.6

Having the Rh factor on the surface of red blood cells

An account that has more money in it than you have taken out

positive stimulus
  • Specialized
1 4.6

Something like praise or a reward that makes someone do something again

positive economics
  • Specialized
1 6.3

Part of economics that describes, explains, and predicts how the economy works without giving opinions

1 9.1

To hide facts or give false information on purpose to cheat someone

positive pole
  • Specialized
1 4.4

The end of a magnet that points north when the magnet hangs freely

positive reinforcer
  • Specialized
1 4.5

A thing given after a behavior that makes it more likely to happen again

positive pole
  • Specialized
1 3.5

A battery terminal marked with a plus sign that connects to the red wire

4.1

A blood group whose red blood cells have the Rh factor, common in most people

positive chemotaxis
  • Specialized
7.9

Movement of a cell toward a stronger chemical signal

positive adverb
  • Specialized
7.4

An adverb that shows a simple way something happens, not a comparison

positive degree
  • Specialized
5.7

The base form of an adjective or adverb that shows a quality without comparison

6.0

The end of a magnet that points toward the north when it hangs freely

positive muon
  • Specialized
9.9

A small particle with positive electric charge that turns into other tiny particles

Something pleasant that someone gives after a behavior to make it happen again

6.8

A word that shows how something is done without comparison

Surface Forms

positive positive

Morphology

positive = posit (semi-transparent) = posit + ive

The electrical sense ('having positive charge') is a technical extension; its pairing with 'negative' makes it guessable but it is specialized.

Etymology

Positive comes from the Latin root posit- from ponere 'to put', and in science it names one 'placed' type of electrical charge. So a positive charge is the kind of electric charge (carried by protons) that is the opposite of 'negative'.