# negative

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈnɛɡ.ə.tɪv/ · frequency rank #1,700

## Definitions
1. Not positive or neutral; bad; undesirable; unfavourable.
2. Of a number: less than zero.
3. Of a number: less than zero.
4. Of a test result: not positive, not detected.
5. Of electrical charge of an electron and related particles
6. Denying a proposition; negating a concept.
7. Pessimistic; not tending to see the bright side of things.
8. Of or relating to a photographic image in which the colours of the original, and the relations of left and right, are reversed.
9. Metalloidal, nonmetallic; contrasted with positive or basic.
10. Often preceded by emotion, energy, feeling, or thought: to be avoided, bad, difficult, disagreeable, painful, potentially damaging, unpleasant, unwanted.
11. Characterized by the presence of features which do not support a hypothesis.
12. HIV negative.
13. COVID-19 negative.
14. No, not any, zero.

## Etymology
From Middle English negative, negatif, from Old French negatif, from Latin negātīvus (“that denies, negative”), from negāre (“to deny”); see negate.

## Easily confused with
- **negatively** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/negative-vs-negatively)
- **native** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/native-vs-negative)
- **negate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/negate-vs-negative)
- **negation** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/negation-vs-negative)

## Common misspellings (11)
`engative`, `neagtive`, `negaitve`, `negatiev`, `negativve`, `negattive`, `negatvie`, `neggative`, `negtaive`, `ngeative`, `nnegative`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/negative