- [countable, uncountable] a good or useful quality or aspect
- What are the positives and negatives of going this route?
- I get a lot of positives from my job.
- The deal is seen as a positive for both companies.
Extra Examples- Take your weaknesses and translate them into positives.
- To manage your way out of recession, accentuate the positive.
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- [countable] the result of a test or an experiment that shows that a substance or condition is present
- The result can be a false positive—indicating a problem where none actually exists.
- [countable] (specialist) a developed film showing light and dark areas and colours as they actually were, especially one printed from a negative
good quality
result of test
in photography
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French positif, -ive or Latin positivus, from posit- ‘placed’, from the verb ponere. The original sense referred to laws as being formally ‘laid down’, which led to the sense ‘explicitly laid down and admitting no question’, hence ‘certain’.
Check pronunciation:
positive