POSITIVE in THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

2 meanings, 6 uses

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1 —3 uses as in:
I'm absolutely positive!

Definition

certain (having no doubt; or used for emphasis)

She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain ball.
Adventure III — A Case of Identity (85% in)

positive = absolute (used for emphasis)

Other Uses (with this meaning)

You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique things are very often connected not with the larger but with the smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for doubt whether any positive crime has been committed.
Adventure II — The Red-Headed League (5% in)

positive = certain

This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in the best of training.
Adventure VII — The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle (23% in)

positive = certain

There are no more uses of "positive" flagged with this meaning in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Typical Usage (best examples)

2 —1 use as in:
had a positive effect

Definition

good or beneficial

positive = good

There are no more uses of "positive" flagged with this meaning in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Typical Usage (best examples)

? —2 uses
exact meaning not specified

Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a very positive one, too.
Adventure IV — The Boscombe Valley Mystery (37% in)

You shave every morning, and in this season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated than the other.
Adventure IV — The Boscombe Valley Mystery (18% in)

There are no more uses of "positive" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Typical Usage (best examples)

positive used in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes