active - Definition | Dictionary definition of active

Definition of active

Adjectives

tending to become more severe or wider in scope

"active tuberculosis"

Synonyms:: progressive
advancing in severity

Antonyms:: inactive
(pathology) not progressing or increasing; or progressing slowly; dead-end
lacking opportunities for development or advancement; flat
commercially inactive; indolent
(of tumors, e.g.) slow to heal or develop and usually painless; latent
(pathology) not presently active; quiescent
(pathology) causing no symptoms; show more antonyms...

engaged in or ready for military or naval operations

"on active duty"

Synonyms:: combat-ready, fighting; operational
(military) of or intended for or involved in military operations

disposed to take action or effectuate change

"a director who takes an active interest in corporate operations"

"an active antagonism"

"he was active in drawing attention to their grievances"

Synonyms:: activist, activistic
advocating or engaged in activism; hands-on
involving active participation; proactive
(of a policy or person or action) controlling a situation by causing something to happen rather than waiting to respond to it after it happens

Antonyms:: passive
lacking in energy or will; inactive; hands-off
not involving participation or intervention; resistless, supine, unresisting
offering no resistance; show more antonyms...

taking part in an activity

"an active member of the club"

"he was politically active"

Synonyms:: participating; involved
connected by participation or association or use

characterized by energetic activity

"an active toddler"

"active as a gazelle"

"an active man is a man of action"

Synonyms:: lively
full of life and energy; energetic
possessing or exerting or displaying energy; about, astir
on the move; acrobatic, athletic, gymnastic
vigorously active; agile, nimble, quick, spry
moving quickly and lightly; hot
marked by excited activity; hyperactive, overactive
more active than normal; on the go
(of a person) very busy and active; sporty
appropriate for sport or engagement in a sport

Antonyms:: inactive
not active physically or mentally; lethargic, unenrgetic
deficient in alertness or activity; desk-bound, deskbound
restricted to working in an office rather than in an active physical capacity; abeyant, dormant
inactive but capable of becoming active; hypoactive, underactive
abnormally inactive; inert, sluggish, soggy, torpid
slow and apathetic; sedentary
requiring sitting or little activity; show more antonyms...

exerting influence or producing a change or effect

"an active ingredient"

Synonyms:: activated
rendered active; e.g. rendered radioactive or luminescent or photosensitive or conductive; counteractive
opposing or neutralizing or mitigating an effect by contrary action; surface-active
capable of lowering the surface tension of a liquid; used especially of detergents

Antonyms:: inactive
not exerting influence or change; quiescent
not active or activated; show more antonyms...

full of activity or engaged in continuous activity

"an active seaport"

"an active bond market"

"an active account"

Synonyms:: brisk
very active; bustling
full of energetic and noisy activity; busy
crowded with or characterized by much activity; going
in full operation; open
ready for business; springy
(of movements) light and confidently active

Antonyms:: inactive
lacking activity; lying idle or unused; dark
not giving performances; closed; dead
devoid of activity; dull, slow, sluggish
(of business) not active or brisk; idle, unused
not in active use; strikebound
closed or immobilized by a strike; show more antonyms...

in operation

"an active tradition"

Synonyms:: alive; existent, existing
having existence or being or actuality

(of the sun) characterized by an increased occurrence of sunspots and flares and radio emissions

Antonyms:: quiet
of the sun characterized by a low level of surface phenomena like sunspots e.g.

expressing that the subject of the sentence has the semantic function of actor: "Hemingway favors active constructions"

Antonyms:: passive
expressing that the subject of the sentence is the patient of the action denoted by the verb

(used of verbs (e.g. `to run') and participial adjectives (e.g. `running' in `running water')) expressing action rather than a state of being

Synonyms:: dynamic

Antonyms:: stative
( used of verbs (e.g. `be' or `own') and most participial adjectives) expressing existence or a state rather than an action

(of e.g. volcanos) capable of erupting

Synonyms:: live
exerting force or containing energy; alive
capable of erupting

Antonyms:: extinct
(of e.g. volcanos) permanently inactive; dead
physically inactive; show more antonyms...

(of e.g. volcanos) erupting or liable to erupt

"active volcanos"

Synonyms:: eruptive
actively spewing out lava

Antonyms:: dormant
(of e.g. volcanos) not erupting and not extinct; inactive; quiescent
being quiet or still or inactive; show more antonyms...

engaged in full-time work

"active duty"

"though past retirement age he is still active in his profession"

Synonyms:: activated
(military) set up and placed on active assignment

Antonyms:: inactive
not engaged in full-time work; off
not performing or scheduled for duties; retired
no longer active in your work or profession; show more antonyms...

Nouns

chemical agent capable of activity

Synonyms:: active agent

Type of:: chemical agent
an agent that produces chemical reactions

the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is performing the action or causing the happening denoted by the verb

"`The boy threw the ball' uses the active voice"

Synonyms:: active voice

Antonyms:: passive voice
the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb; passive; show more antonyms...

Type of:: voice
(linguistics) the grammatical relation (active or passive) of the grammatical subject of a verb to the action that the verb denotes

a person who is a participating member of an organization

"the club issues a list of members, both the actives and the retirees"