Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The state of being positive; actualness; reality of existence; not mere negation; undoubting assurance; full confidence; peremptoriness.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The quality or state of being positive; reality; actualness; certainty; confidence; peremptoriness; dogmatism. See
positive , a.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable The quality of being
positive ;positivity - noun countable The result of being
positive
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a quality or state characterized by certainty or acceptance or affirmation and dogmatic assertiveness
- noun an amount greater than zero
- noun the character of the positive electric pole
- noun the quality of being undeniable and not worth arguing about
- noun the quality of being encouraging or promising of a successful outcome
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But in the final analysis, the positive review simply in its positiveness, is displaying a passion, and therefore a reason to be passionate about whatever is reviewed, in this case, poetry, or poets.
Accentuate the positive ... Frank Wilson 2006
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"I imagine his positiveness is the secret of his success."
The Great God Success David Graham Phillips 1889
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"I have changed my mind," he said, one evening, with that smiling positiveness which is so aggravating: "I am very much inclined to believe that Ben Craven did kill Clough."
The Hallam Succession Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr 1875
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"And we will," Billy rejoined with great positiveness.
CHAPTER XI 2010
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"Mark my words!" he cried with abrupt positiveness.
Chapter 31 2010
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Troth forbid we mistakenly use dogmatism to mean “positiveness in assertion of opinion especially when unwarranted or arrogant” or “a viewpoint or system of ideas based on insufficiently examined premises”.
Bukiet on Brooklyn Books Hal Duncan 2009
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“I saw the other one run off across the snow,” Bill announced with cool positiveness.
The Trail of Meat 2010
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"Nay," answered the old man with gentle positiveness.
THE WHITE MAN'S WAY 2010
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He thought it important enough that he advocated "the habit of expressing myself in terms of modest diffidence; never using, when I advanced any thing that may possibly be disputed, the words certainly, undoubtedly, or any others that give the air of positiveness to an opinion."
In which Max discovers a tic, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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But he nodded his head positively, and the boys behind him nodded with equal positiveness.
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