passivity
noun
pas·siv·i·ty
pa-ˈsi-və-tē 
1
: the quality or state of being passive : passiveness
The only thing that I find more depressing than this charlatan is the passivity of the museum-goers who pass before his works: they may have an inkling that they are being had, but they are unable to trust the evidence of their eyes.—
Jed Perl
Jed Perl… and now she was condemned to years of genteel English poverty by a passivity stubborn as low-grade fever.—Vivian Gornick
Vivian GornickThe implication—that American policy makers had, out of some combination of timorous passivity and treasonous perfidy, lost China to Communism—set off one of the darkest-ever turns in American civic life.—Daniel Kurtz-Phelan
Daniel Kurtz-Phelan2
chemistry
: a chemically inactive state
—used especially of a metal that has lost its normal chemical activity and is resistant to corrosion
The lower limit of 11% is based on the markedly increased corrosion resistance and spontaneous passivity obtained at this level.—Donald H. DeClerck et al.
Donald H. DeClerck et al.Examples of passivity in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Without realizing it, the relationship can start to operate like a system of emotional over-functioning and under-functioning, where one person takes more responsibility for the emotional health of the relationship, while the other slowly disappears into passivity.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 7 July 2025
For Arkel Benitez, a Guatemalan security analyst and lawyer, the problem is that what’s visible in the videos circulating is, at best, passivity by Guatemalan police and soldiers and, at worst, collusion in the face of something that was an obvious threat to Guatemalan citizens.
—Edgar H. Clemente, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2025
Influence Requires Intentionality, Not Approval Strategic influence doesn’t mean people-pleasing or passivity.
—Yann Dang, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025
Curry’s passivity to start games, and his turnovers, have been complicit in the Warriors’ sputtering offense.
—Marcus Thompson Ii, New York Times, 1 May 2025
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Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 7 July 2025
For Arkel Benitez, a Guatemalan security analyst and lawyer, the problem is that what’s visible in the videos circulating is, at best, passivity by Guatemalan police and soldiers and, at worst, collusion in the face of something that was an obvious threat to Guatemalan citizens.
—Edgar H. Clemente, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2025
Influence Requires Intentionality, Not Approval Strategic influence doesn’t mean people-pleasing or passivity.
—Yann Dang, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025
Curry’s passivity to start games, and his turnovers, have been complicit in the Warriors’ sputtering offense.
—Marcus Thompson Ii, New York Times, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for passivity
Cite this Entry
“Passivity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/passivity. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
passivity
noun
pas·siv·i·ty
pa-ˈsiv-ət-ē
plural passivities
: the quality or state of being passive or submissive
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