negative
Not positive or neutral; bad; undesirable; unfavourable.
Word facts
Definition of Negative
Of a test result: not positive, not detected.
Example sentences
Customers didn’t like it: feedback was mostly negative.
I don’t like to hang around him very much because he can be so negative about his petty problems.
Using Negative well
A closer look at how negative is used — meaning in plain English, how close synonyms differ, and examples at different levels.
Bad, unfavorable, or gloomy; or meaning 'no', or being less than zero.
Use it for an unfavorable outcome, a pessimistic attitude, or a refusal. Like 'positive', it also has neutral technical senses (a negative number, a negative test result showing something is absent) that do not imply 'bad'.
Everyday talk, feedback and criticism, psychology, medical and lab results, mathematics, grammar (negation), and photography.
In medicine, a 'negative' result is usually good news (nothing was found) — it means 'not detected', not 'bad'.
- pessimistic
- Specifically about expecting bad outcomes; narrower than the general 'negative'.
- unfavorable
- More formal; describes conditions or judgments, not a personal mood.
- adverse
- Formal; stresses active harm or opposition, as in adverse effects or adverse conditions.
- downbeat
- Casual; suggests a gloomy or subdued tone rather than outright hostility.
- detrimental
- Formal; emphasizes causing damage, stronger and more consequence-focused than plain 'negative'.
- positive
- Direct opposite across most senses: favorable, optimistic, or above zero.
- favorable
- Opposite of the 'unfavorable outcome or judgment' sense.
- affirmative
- Opposite of the 'meaning no' sense; means 'yes' or confirming.
- Beginner Try not to say anything negative about their work in front of them.
- In writing The report highlighted several negative trends in the quarterly numbers.
- Advanced The critique was relentlessly negative, yet buried in it was a single observation worth keeping.
Think of a 'minus' sign: negative takes away, refuses, or falls below zero.
Synonyms for Negative
Antonyms for Negative
Related words
Words closely connected to Negative in meaning or use:
Try Negative in the word tools
Browse words near Negative
Explore more words that start with the letter N in Word Explorer, or use the A-Z browser to discover other vocabulary starting from any letter.
FAQ
Questions people ask
What does negative mean?
Not positive or neutral; bad; undesirable; unfavourable. It is an adjective.
How many syllables does negative have?
Negative breaks into 3 syllables — neh·guh·tihv — when you say it aloud.
What part of speech is negative?
Negative works as an adjective. As a noun, it names a thing, idea, or concept.
What are synonyms for negative?
You can often swap negative for perverse, dissident, bad, harmful, though each carries a slightly different shade of meaning.
How do you use negative in a sentence?
Example: "Customers didn’t like it: feedback was mostly negative."