unaggressively
- adverb
- /ˌʌnəˈɡrɛsɪvli/
- She approached the topic unaggressively, allowing everyone to share their opinions without feeling threatened.
Examples
-
Individuality in religion accorded well with the relative autonomy the Powhatans had in economic and family life, and it was reinforced by the etiquette that made it polite to listen quietly and unaggressively to the opinions of others.
Academic text (1992) -
To expand on this further and for the purposes of this article, one could argue that the point of obtaining global competencies would be to embody the ability to confidently, yet unaggressively express one's thoughts, opinions, ideas, beliefs, and feelings based on one's identity within the mores of various existing cultures without fear of aggressive or violent reaction.
Academic text (2008) -
The teacher unaggressively guided the discussion, encouraging students to express their ideas openly.
-
He presented his argument unaggressively, making sure to listen to opposing views before responding.
Synonyms
In a shy way that shows little confidence
Acting calmly and openly when someone criticizes you
In a way that does not upset or hurt people
In a quiet way that shows little confidence or desire to speak up
Antonyms
How Aggressive
Surface Forms
Morphology
unaggressively = unaggressive (transparent) = un + aggressive + ly
Formed by adding the adverbial suffix '-ly' to the clearly negated adjective 'unaggressive', so the adverbial meaning is directly predictable.
Etymology
The word unaggressively starts with un- meaning 'not' and has aggressive, a word that comes from an old root meaning 'to attack' or 'go toward'. So, to act unaggressively is to behave 'not attacking', calm and not forceful.