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negative
in a sentence
grouped by contextual meaning

negative as in:  had a negative effect

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Higher interest rates negatively affected home sales.
negatively = in a bad or harmful manner
Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
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    Higher gasoline prices negatively affected fast food sales.
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    My luggage was lost. I got sick. I was robbed. The whole vacation was a negative experience.
    negative = bad
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    Wage growth is lower than hoped and negatively impacting the stock market.
    negatively = in a bad or harmful manner
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Show 10 more with 7 word variations
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    I'm making a list of the positives and negatives of switching jobs.
    negatives = things or characteristics that are bad or harmful
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    "When he's sober, I've never heard him say one negative thing about you," says Peeta.  (source)
    negative = bad
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    But each such error reflected negatively on his parents' guidance and infringed on the community's sense of order and success.  (source)
    negatively = poorly
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    Listen to that negativity.†  (source)
    negativity = the state or character of being bad or harmful
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    But the idea was instantly negatived.†  (source)
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    Mr. Jaggers shook his head,—not in negativing the question, but in altogether negativing the notion that he could anyhow be got to answer it,—and the two horrible casts of the twitched faces looked, when my eyes strayed up to them, as if they had come to a crisis in their suspended attention, and were going to sneeze.†  (source)
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    And yet with all this negativeness, Mrs. Hickey was still cheerful, joking and kidding and trying to put the best face on things, telling me how she took strength from Patrick, who never once complained about sleeping at the hospital, or eating the food.  (source)
    negativeness = badness (a state where bad things are happening)
    standard suffix: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.
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    And both you and I needed to cleanse our minds of negative thoughts.  (source)
    negative = bad or harmful
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    It was the flip side to the passion that made her feel as if she'd gone electric inside-just directed, negatively, at someone weak.  (source)
    negatively = in a bad or harmful manner
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    As the room fills, I brace myself for a less congenial reception. But the only people who register any kind of negativity are Haymitch, who's always out of sorts, and a sour-faced Fulvia Cardew.  (source)
    negativity = bad mood
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negative as in:  negative feedback from customers

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The responses to my plan were negative.
negative = indicated criticism or disagreement
Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
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    We're getting a lot of negative feedback about the proposed changes.
    negative = indicating criticism or disagreement
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    The candidate ran a negative campaign.
    negative = critical (pointing to bad things about her opponent--rather than good things about herself)
  • •
    "Are we cleared for landing?" "Negative. The runway is not clear."
    negative = no
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Show 10 more with 5 word variations
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    Much of the negative mail was sent by Alaskans.  (source)
    negative = critical
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    I despise negativism, don't you, Mr. McLean?†  (source)
    negativism = the practice or tendency to be critical--especially in a non-helpful manner
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    (Shaking his head negatively but gently) No. Between a man and a woman there need be only one kind of feeling. I have that for you …. Now even …. right this moment …  (source)
    negatively = indicating an answer of "no"
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    We did not, and because we did not, we had no positive — we were condemned to negatives, to not revealing ourselves, to not speaking when we would, to not using what we knew, to not being found out — to a life of perpetual deception, concealment, and lying.  (source)
    negatives = focusing on things not done--rather than on things done
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    They knew how to fire up a church the old-fashioned way, without talk of politics and bad mouthing and negativity but with real talk of God and genuine concern for its parishioners.  (source)
    negativity = criticism
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    Needless to say, Rudy answered in the negative, and the paper was torn up and he started again.  (source)
    negative = indicating an answer of "no"
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    Coach is afraid that your negativism will affect the team.†  (source)
    negativism = the practice or tendency to be critical--especially in a non-helpful manner
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    Throttling his joy, Ahab negatively answered this unexpected question; and would then have fain boarded the stranger, when the stranger captain himself, having stopped his vessel's way, was seen descending her side.  (source)
    negatively = indicating an answer of "no"
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    It was strange, she thought, to obtain news by means of nothing but denials, as if existence had ceased, facts had vanished and only the frantic negatives uttered by officials and columnists gave any clue to the reality they were denying.  (source)
    negatives = indicating what was not done (rather than what was done)
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    But much of the negativity directed at the Fugees also seemed born of resentment, from parents who had spent a small fortune on gear, soccer clinics, and team fees only to see their sons trounced by a haphazardly equipped group of kids with foreign accents.  (source)
    negativity = criticism
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negative as in:  a negative attitude

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Don't be so negative. We'll find a way to make this work.
negative = pessimistic
Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
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    I need a break from her negative attitude.
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    "The Earth is dying, you know? It's time to leave." "That's a pretty negative outlook," she said.  (source)
    negative = pessimistic (expecting bad things instead of good)
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    In the control room, Hammond said, "Damn those people. They are so negative." Wu said, "They're still going on about an animal escaping? I don't understand. They must have seen by now that we have everything under control."  (source)
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Show 10 more with 3 word variations
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    "I'm not being negative," I said. "I'm trying to be realistic."  (source)
    negative = pessimistic (focusing on bad things)
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    Thomas was annoyed at Minho's constant negativity.  (source)
    negativity = pessimism or unpleasantness
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    Another way to be prepared is to think negatively. Yes, I'm a great optimist. But when trying to make a decision, I often think of the worst-case scenario.  (source)
    negatively = in a pessimistic manner
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    When Lacy stepped into a delivery room, she felt poisonous, too negative to be the one to welcome another human being to this world.  (source)
    negative = pessimistic or disagreeable
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    He was reaching a point in life where the despair and negativity were threatening to take over his life.  (source)
    negativity = pessimism
  • •
    She says it helps her channel the negative energy— whatever that means.  (source)
    negative = pessimistic or disagreeable
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    With all the psychobabble she heard from her dad, she probably did think my constant negativity was part of an internal struggle.  (source)
    negativity = pessimism or unpleasantness
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    I don't know if it's just Janne's nature to be negative or if there's something more serious going on, if he's playing some sort of game.  (source)
    negative = pessimistic (expecting bad things instead of good)
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    Jessica hated negativity.  (source)
    negativity = pessimism or unpleasantness
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    I don't want anything heavy or sad. I'd like you to keep it light and snappy, something that will send the boys out feeling pretty good. Do you know what I mean? I don't want any of this Kingdom of God or Valley of Death stuff. That's all too negative.  (source)
    negative = unhappy (focusing on unhappy things instead of happy things)
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negative as in:  The test came back negative.

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The pregnancy test was negative.
negative = did not find a condition to be present
Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
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    The test for bacterial infection came back negative.
    negative = not having found the condition to be present
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    We tested for lead in the drinking water. The results came back negative.
    negative = did not find a substance to be present
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    But negative data's still data.  (source)
    negative = indicating that a condition was not found to be present
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Show 10 more with 2 word variations
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    We tested ourselves, and we were negative.  (source)
    negative = indicating that a condition was not found to be present
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    Az and I looked very closely at all the negatives-that is, the few pretties who didn't have the lesions-and tried to figure out why they were different.  (source)
    negatives = people who did not have a condition
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    Turning his attention back to the radar, he radioed, "Negative contact on proximity radar."  (source)
    Negative = indicating that a condition was not found to be present
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    We ruled out blood type, gender, physical size, intelligence factors, genetic markers-nothing seemed to account for the negatives.  (source)
    negatives = people who did not have a condition
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    But the lump tested negative for syphilis, so he told Henrietta she'd better go to the Johns Hopkins gynecology clinic.  (source)
    negative = indicating that a condition was not found to be present
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    All negatives.  (source)
    negatives = people who did not have a condition
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    "I'm not pregnant," she said. "I mean, I thought I was, but the test was negative."  (source)
    negative = indicating that a condition was not found to be present
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    [of the lie-detector or polygraph test] The results of the test, to the dismay of Osprey's sheriff as well as Alvin Dewey, who does not believe in exceptional coincidences, were decisively negative.  (source)
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    At first there is a sort of negative condition, as if some tie were loosened, and then the absolute freedom quickly follows.  (source)
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    Chapter 8 — Negative Data — 1969  (source)
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negative as in:  a negative number

Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
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    She was absent when the teacher described the number line. It made it difficult for her to understand negative numbers.
    negative = less than zero
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    What math I was ever taught I learned doing the breakfast dishes and listening to Mother explain, over and over, what a fraction is or how to use negative numbers.  (source)
    negative = being less than zero
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    You know, I don't believe any House has ever been in negative figures this early in the term:  (source)
    negative = with a value of less than zero
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Show 10 more with 2 word variations
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    There was a special news report on Channel 12 telling about how bad the weather was and Dad groaned when the guy said, "If you think it's cold now, wait until tonight, the temperature is expected to drop into record-low territory, possibly reaching the negative twenties!"  (source)
    negative = minus (what follows is below zero)
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    Operations on Real Numbers: negatives or opposites--numbers on opposite sides of the zero but the same distance from zero on the number line are called negatives or opposites  (source)
    negatives = numbers with a value of less than zero
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    Algebra notes ... negative numbers have no sq root  (source)
    negative = with a value of less than zero
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    Operations on Real Numbers: negatives or opposites--numbers on opposite sides of the zero but the same distance from zero on the number line are called negatives or opposites  (source)
    negatives = numbers with a value of less than zero
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    The girl freeze-out—today it was negative fifteen.  (source)
    negative = minus (what follows is below zero)
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    In those cases, the comfort quotient became a negative number, and doing what came habitually actually detracted from happiness.  (source)
    negative = less than zero
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    Assuming negative numbers if the guy is more of a Dumpee; positive if the girl is.  (source)
    negative = with a value of less than zero
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    You don't have to have Archimedes talking about rabbits and turtles to know that: when you start in with negative numbers, as we do with young schoolchildren, you are singing like a Druid.  (source)
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    Can a negative number be an average?  (source)
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    Positive numbers if the boy is more attracted to the girl; negative if vice versa.  (source)
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rare meaning

Show 3 with this contextual meaning
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    "The negative image of things blown together and then blown apart," he said. [of the shadows of the branches intersecting and coming apart on the concrete]  (source)
    negative = as of a photographic image that makes light things dark and dark things light
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    AB negative—it's rare and in very high demand.  (source)
    negative = lacking the Rh factor
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    After she'd made the prints, she slipped the negative into her handbag and took it home with her.  (source)
    negative = photographic material with the image taken by a film camera and which can be used to create photographs
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Show 10 more with 2 word variations
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    When the issue is viewed another way, as with the effort to find an accent without regional identifiers, most linguists see a bottom-line standard in written American English as the absence of certain grammatical constructions, or "nonstandard" forms such as ain't, double negatives, and subject-verb disagreement.  (source)
  • •
    I flipped through my notebook to the lecture on negative and positive liberty.  (source)
    negative = restrictive or limiting
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    The negatives held only the interior shots his wife had taken.†  (source)
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    "Venturing into the more bizarre," Teabing said, "note that Jesus and His bride appear to be joined at the hip and are leaning away from one another as if to create this clearly delineated negative space between them."  (source)
    negative = empty
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    This was followed by a crazed string of negatives: "No!†  (source)
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    I was supposed to match negatives with their prints, just look at the picture and look for the same one on the negative strip, put it in the envelope, and do the next one.  (source)
    negative = a strip of photographic images on film that show the light and dark areas reversed
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    Strips of negatives hang on drying lines.†  (source)
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    The most we can expect of men who cannot be reelected is the negative merit of doing no harm, instead of the positive merit of doing good.  (source)
    negative = lacking positive qualities
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    Then there are the negatives: all the activity and attention gets in the way of my being able to do things that I want to do.†  (source)
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    I apologize for the double negative, but it's a real double negative of a situation, a bind from which negating the negation is truly the only escape.  (source)
    negative = a grammatical construct that means "not"
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