Something that is active is characterized by movement and action. That action might be a random or temporary movement, such as someone who is active and exercises only now and then, or something continuous, like an active strain of a virus.
Since the adjective active suggests activity, applying it to anything implies some sort of motion or action. A person might be physically active, not sitting around and doing nothing, or mentally active, working the mind. In language, we refer to "the active voice" as one in which the subject does the action, in contrast to the passive voice, a rather boring style where the subject is the receiver of the action. Even in writing, it’s better to be active!
1 |
adjn |
characterized by energetic activity
a person who is a participating member of an organization
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2 |
adjn |
exerting influence or producing a change or effect
chemical agent capable of activity
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3 |
adjn |
(used of verbs (e.g. `to run') and participial adjectives (e.g. `running' in `running water')) expressing action rather than a state of being
the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is performing the action or causing the happening denoted by the verb
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4 |
adj |
full of activity or engaged in continuous activity
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