1. Characterized by or displaying affirmation or acceptance or certainty etc.
   "a positive benefit"; "a positive demand"; "a positive attitude"; "the reviews were all positive"
    
2. Involving advantage or good
   "a positive factor";
   - plus
    
3. Persuaded of; very sure
   "I am positive he is lying";
   - convinced, confident
    
4. Impossible to deny or disprove
   "proof positive";
   - incontrovertible, irrefutable, ungainsayable
    
5. Formally laid down or imposed
   "positive laws";
   - prescribed
    
6. Reckoned, situated or tending in the direction which naturally or arbitrarily is taken to indicate increase or progress or onward motion
   "positive increase in graduating students"
    
7. (mathematics) greater than zero
   "positive numbers"
    
8. Having a positive charge
   "protons are positive";
   - electropositive, positively charged
    
9. (medicine) indicating existence or presence of a suspected condition or pathogen
   "a positive pregnancy test";
   - confirming
    
10. Marked by excessive confidence
    "the less he knows, the more positive he gets";
    - cocksure, overconfident
     
11. Of or relating to positivism
    "positive philosophy";
    - positivist, positivistic

1. The primary form of an adjective or adverb; denotes a quality without qualification, comparison, or relation to increase or diminution
   "In the sentence 'The cat is fast', 'fast' is in the positive degree";
   - positive degree
    
2. A film showing a photographic image whose tones correspond to those of the original subject
   "The photographer examined the positive to ensure the colours were accurate"

Derived forms: positives

See also: advantageous, affirmative, affirmatory, certain, charged, confident, constructive, favorable [US], favourable [Brit, Cdn], formal, Gram-positive, optimistic, plus, quality, supportive, sure, undeniable

Type of: adjective, adverb, film, photographic film

Antonym: negative, neutral

Part of: diapositive, lantern slide, slide

Encyclopedia: Positive