From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishnegativeneg‧a‧tive1 /ˈneɡətɪv/ ●●● S2 W2 AWL adjective 1 badBAD harmful, unpleasant, or not wanted OPP positive My drinking was starting to have a negative effect on my work. the negative aspects of ageing On the negative side, it will cost a lot.► see thesaurus at bad, harmful2 not liking somebody/somethingBAD considering only the bad qualities of a situation, person etc and not the good ones OPP positive students with a negative attitude to school They have a uniformly negative image of the police. Jean rarely sounded so negative about her mother.3 no/not a) NOsaying or meaning ‘no’negative answer/reply/response He gave a negative answer without any explanation. b) NOcontaining one of the words ‘no’, ‘not’, ‘nothing’, ‘never’ etc OPP affirmative4 scientific testSHOW/BE A SIGN OF# not showing any sign of the chemical or medical condition that was being looked for OPP positive The pregnancy test was negative. A person can be recently infected by HIV and have a negative result.5 electricity technicalTPETEE a negative charge is carried by electrons OPP positive 6 number/quantityHMN less than zero SYN minus OPP positive negative numbers a negative return on our investment (=a loss)7 blood technicalMHHBH used in the names of blood types, meaning not having the Rhesus factor OPP positive —negatively adverb
Examples from the Corpus
negative• The first brain scan proved negative.• The portrayal of working women in the media tends to be very negative.• Starks was taken to a local hospital for X-rays, which came back negative.• All the athletes' drugs tests were negative.• Anne's pregnancy test was negative.• I wish you'd stop being so negative all the time!• My bank statement shows a negative balance.• A negative belonging, if you like.• The Red Cross said it had virtually no stocks of type O negative blood available.• Police kept her locked up in a cell until she gave a negative breath test and was deemed fit to leave.• You shouldn't let his negative comments get you down - he doesn't know what he's talking about.• Each executive selected an episode that he wished to redesign so that it would not have negative consequences.• The school environment can be a negative force as well as a positive one.• Concavity and negative forms are associated with elastic orifices, suction, closure and decline.• The agreement has had a negative impact on jobs.• You can always interpret things in a more positive light or a more negative light.• Do you know how to multiply negative numbers?• It slopes downward and to the right because the relationship it portrays between price and quantity demanded is negative or inverse.• a negative pregnancy test• Negative publicity has harmed the group's ability to get things done.• Our request received a negative reply.• There has been a negative return on our investment.• Tanya has a really negative self-image.• Doctors have a duty to inform patients of the possible negative side-effects of the drug.• This does not mean that boys never hear negative stories about themselves.• Critics said the article portrayed Latinos in negative way.negative answer/reply/response• But Dole countered with a heavily negative response.• This negative and careless attitude on the part of the teacher can only help to stimulate a negative response among his students.• This negative response created great distress to Mrs X as she has her heart set on becoming an embalmer.• Some Quakers began to denounce slavery beyond their circle in society at large, and they drew negative response for doing so.• Where there is a definite negative response put 0 percent.• Few things can be more guaranteed to create a negative response than the sight of husband and wife sparring in public.• The intended result of such treatment is to reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption by producing a negative response to alcohol.• Besides, I was not at all sure that she had given a negative answer to my question.negativenegative2 AWL noun [countable] 1 TCPan image on a photographic film that shows dark areas as light and light areas as dark, from which the final picture is printed black and white photographic negatives2 NOa statement or expression that means ‘no’ OPP affirmativeanswer/reply in the negative formal (=say 'no') The majority of people, when asked whether or not they are creative, will reply in the negative.3 something bad or harmful OPP positive The negatives outweigh the positives on this issue.4 a negative result from a chemical or scientific test OPP positive The test will give a proportion of false negatives.Examples from the Corpus
negative• I've stolen photos and negatives from the photographic laboratory.• Another negative was the increase in unemployment.• Thus for every 80 correctly predicted we will have 20 false negatives and 200 false positives.• FoxTrax had a few built-in negatives in its debut.• The search is now on for more negatives to eliminate.• It helped her not to dwell on negatives and improved her role as a provider.• The third negative applies in the high-technology sectors.answer/reply in the negative• Nonplussed by such an odd question, Diana replied in the negative.• When asked to confirm whether all the missing soldiers were accounted for, the Lieutenant answered in the negative.• Workers were asked if they had reached their weekly targets, and if they replied in the negative, they were fired.• In the result, each of the certified questions was answered in the negative.• The majority of people, when asked whether or not they are creative, will reply in the negative.negativenegative3 verb [transitive] formal 1 REJECT/NOT ACCEPTto refuse to accept a proposal or request2 UNTRUEto prove something to be untrue→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
negative• Finally, there may be something to be said for a non-exhaustive list of situations in which consent will be negatived.• It required not the affirmance, and could not be negatived, by the state governments.From Longman Business Dictionarynegativeneg‧a‧tive /ˈnegətɪv/ adjective1bad or harmfulThe Bank’s refusal to cut interest rates is having a negative effect on the economy.2saying or meaning ‘no’a negative response3considering only the bad qualities of a situation, person etc and not the good onesnegative aboutStock analysts are growing increasingly negative about general insurance stocks.4less than zeroThe difference between a positive growth rate of 0.5% and a negative rate of 0.5% is so small the average businessman would be unlikely to feel it. —negatively adverbFinancial markets reacted negatively to the Fed’s announcement. 