All 50 Uses of
positive
in
The Brothers Karamazov
- That was the truth; the young man had an unmistakable influence over his father, who positively appeared to be behaving more decently and even seemed at times ready to obey his son, though often extremely and even spitefully perverse.†
Chpt 1positively = with certainty
- But I have been lying, lying positively my whole life long, every day and hour of it.†
Chpt 2
- "Hitherto at least I have stood in the front ranks of all that is progressive in Europe, and here the new generation positively ignores us," he thought.†
Chpt 2
- His face was suddenly solemn and impressive, which gave him a positively malignant look.
Chpt 2positively = absolutely (used for emphasis)
- His eyes gleamed, and his lips positively quivered.†
Chpt 2positively = with certainty
- For one moment every one stared at him without a word; and at once every one felt that something revolting, grotesque, positively scandalous, was about to happen.†
Chpt 2
- He positively stammered; but he was beyond thinking of style, and he seized his hat.
Chpt 2positively = with certainty; or absolutely (used for emphasis)
- There was something positively condescending in his expression.
Chpt 3positively = absolutely (used for emphasis)
- Tears positively glittered in his eyes.†
Chpt 3positively = with certainty
- There was something positively mysterious in it, too.
Chpt 3positively = absolutely (used for emphasis)
- Alyosha realized at the first glance, at the first word, that all the tragedy of her position in relation to the man she loved so dearly was no secret to her; that she perhaps already knew everything, positively everything.†
Chpt 3positively = with certainty
- He moved closer so that his knees positively knocked against Alyosha.†
Chpt 4
- On the other hand, he was more than once that night overcome by a sort of inexplicable humiliating terror, which he felt positively paralyzed his physical powers.
Chpt 5positively = absolutely (used for emphasis)
- Ivan positively smiled at the thought that everything was helping his sudden departure.
Chpt 5
- In the morning as he lay down to sleep, Father Zossima had told him positively: "I shall not die without the delight of another conversation with you, beloved of my heart.†
Chpt 6positively = with certainty
- So that I positively wondered at so strange a dream in myself.
Chpt 6positively = with certainty; or absolutely (used for emphasis)
- Every one wondered at his words, he spoke so strangely and positively; we were all touched and wept.†
Chpt 6positively = with certainty
- Mother positively smiled at that, smiled through her tears.
Chpt 6positively = absolutely (used for emphasis)
- I was so overwhelmed at this unexpected circumstance that my mind was positively clouded.
Chpt 6
- If they declare that it is they who are advancing towards unity, only the most simple-hearted among them believe it, so that one may positively marvel at such simplicity.†
Chpt 6positively = with certainty
- They walked along in silence, Rakitin was positively afraid to talk.
Chpt 7positively = absolutely (used for emphasis)
- When Mitya began to speak of his quarrel with his father over his inheritance, the priest was positively alarmed, as he was in some way dependent on Fyodor Pavlovitch.
Chpt 8
- At the sight of Grushenka, Mitya's jealousy vanished, and, for an instant he became trustful and generous, and positively despised himself for his evil feelings.†
Chpt 8positively = with certainty
- Mitya positively laughed at her, and had once said about her that she was just as lively and at her ease as she was uncultivated.†
Chpt 8positively = absolutely (used for emphasis)
- But that morning in the cart a brilliant idea had struck him: "If she is so anxious I should not marry Katerina Ivanovna" (and he knew she was positively hysterical upon the subject) "why should she refuse me now that three thousand, just to enable me to leave Katya and get away from her for ever."
Chpt 8
- "Not the faintest, madam; ah, madam, not the faintest!" cried Mitya, in nervous impatience, positively starting from his seat.†
Chpt 8positively = with certainty
- I don't know on what terms you are ...since you say it so positively, I suppose she did give it to you.†
Chpt 8
- Kalvanov was positively indignant.
Chpt 8positively = absolutely (used for emphasis)
- And let me tell you, as I wish to hide nothing from you now, that he positively spat at me.
Chpt 9
- They had positively thrown down their cards, all were standing up and talking.
Chpt 9
- The prosecutor positively seized hold of him.†
Chpt 9positively = with certainty
- You are positively hindering the inquiry….
Chpt 9positively = absolutely (used for emphasis)
- "So you positively declare that you are not guilty of the death of your father, Fyodor Pavlovitch?" asked the investigating lawyer, softly but insistently.
Chpt 9positively = with certainty; or absolutely (used for emphasis)
- Mitya spoke much and quickly, nervously and effusively, as though he positively took his listeners to be his best friends.
Chpt 9
- When the police captain went out, Mitya was positively gay.
Chpt 9positively = absolutely (used for emphasis)
- And you have made a very just remark about the mutual confidence, without which it is sometimes positively impossible to get on in cases of such importance, if the suspected party really hopes and desires to defend himself and is in a position to do so.†
Chpt 9positively = with certainty
- There's positively no talking to you!" cried Mitya, exasperated beyond endurance, and turning to the secretary, crimson with anger, he said quickly, with a note of fury in his voice: "Write down at once …. at once ….
Chpt 9positively = absolutely (used for emphasis)
- I tell you positively, definitely, the door was shut the whole time I was in the garden, and when I ran out of the garden.
Chpt 9positively = with certainty; or absolutely (used for emphasis)
- "We will tell you what to do," Nikolay Parfenovitch said, and his voice was positively peremptory, or so it seemed to Mitya.
Chpt 9positively = absolutely (used for emphasis)
- "Surely I didn't declare so positively that I'd brought three thousand?"
Chpt 9positively = with certainty; or absolutely (used for emphasis)
- The prosecutor positively pounced on this piece of evidence.†
Chpt 9positively = with certainty
- The prosecutor positively smiled at the "innocence of this subterfuge."
Chpt 9positively = absolutely (used for emphasis)
- Nikolay Parfenovitch's little figure was positively majestic by the time he had finished speaking.
Chpt 9
- She was positively thinner.
Chpt 11
- He positively disliked him; at most, felt sometimes a compassion for him, and even that was mixed with great contempt, almost repugnance.
Chpt 11positively = with certainty; or absolutely (used for emphasis)
- Yet he went to see Mitya on the first day of his arrival, and that interview, far from shaking Ivan's belief in his guilt, positively strengthened it.†
Chpt 11positively = with certainty
- They gave him to understand that the attack was an exceptional one, the fits persisting and recurring several times, so that the patient's life was positively in danger, and it was only now, after they had applied remedies, that they could assert with confidence that the patient would survive.
Chpt 11positively = absolutely (used for emphasis)
- All this struck Ivan instantly; he took it all in and noted it at once—most of all the look in Smerdyakov's eyes, positively malicious, churlish and haughty.†
Chpt 11positively = with certainty
- A few days later he positively wondered how he could have been so horribly distressed at his suspicions.
Chpt 11 *positively = with certainty; or absolutely (used for emphasis)
- I didn't say that openly to the prosecutor when I was being examined, but quite the contrary, I brought him to it by a hint, as though I didn't see it myself, and as though he'd thought of it himself and I hadn't prompted him; so that Mr. Prosecutor's mouth positively watered at my suggestion.†
Chpt 11positively = with certainty
Definitions:
-
(1)
(positive as in: I'm absolutely positive!) certain (having no doubt; or used for emphasis)
-
(2)
(positive as in: had a positive effect) good or beneficial
-
(3)
(positive as in: positive feedback from my boss) approval or agreement
-
(4)
(positive as in: a positive attitude) optimistic (expecting or focusing on good things); or agreeable
-
(5)
(positive as in: The test came back positive.) found a condition or substance to be present
indicating the presence of something being tested for -- especially a disease, condition, or substance -
(6)
(positive as in: a positive number) greater than zero (of a number)
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(7)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
See a comprehensive dictionary for less common meanings of positive including some in the fields of electricity, physics, chemistry, medicine, philosophy, and grammar. Note that most all senses of positive indicate that something is good or present.