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/əfˈərmətɪv/ Listen

noun

Affirmative n.

That which affirms as opposed to that which denies; an affirmative proposition; that side of question which affirms or maintains the proposition stated; opposed to negative; as, there were forty votes in the affirmative, and ten in the negative. "Whether there are such beings or not, 't is sufficient for my purpose that many have believed the affirmative."

A word or phrase expressing affirmation or assent; as, yes, that is so, etc.

adjective

Affirmative adj.

Confirmative; ratifying; as, an act affirmative of common law.

That affirms; asserting that the fact is so; declaratory of what exists; answering "yes" to a question; opposed to negative; as, an affirmative answer; an affirmative vote.

Positive; dogmatic. (Obs.) "Lysicles was a little by the affirmative air of Crito."

(logic) Expressing the agreement of the two terms of a proposition.

(Alg.) Positive; a term applied to quantities which are to be added, and opposed to negative, or such as are to be subtracted.

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Etymology of 'Affirmative'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Affirmative" Quotes from Famous Books

... statesmen are confronted is very simple: can Europe continue in her decline without involving the ruin of civilization? And is it possible to stop this process of decay without finding some form of civil symbiosis which will ensure for all men a more human mode of living? In the affirmative case what course should we take, and is it presumable that there should be an immediate change for the better in the situation, given the national and economic interests now openly ...

— Peaceless Europe • Francesco Saverio Nitti

... after the fall of rain (as sometimes, but less often it does) then I look for a setled serenity; but if it proceeds after rain in a descending motion, then I expect a continuance of broken and showry weather. But in all, as I only say, For the most part, so I dare not positively declare it an affirmative result, but do refer it to the remarks of others. And this may explicate the Notes 6. and 14 of Num. 9. into ...

— Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society - Vol 1 - 1666 • Various

... utterly untenable. I deny that it is impossible to speak the truth without implying a falsehood; and I deny equally that it is impossible to speak the truth without drying up the sources of our holiest feelings. Those who maintain the affirmative of those propositions appear to me to be the worst of sceptics, and they would certainly reduce us to the most lamentable of dilemmas. If we cannot develop our intellects but at the price of our moral nature, the case is truly hard. Some such conclusion is hinted by Roman Catholics, but I ...

— Prose Masterpieces from Modern Essayists • James Anthony Froude, Edward A. Freeman, William Ewart Gladstone, John Henry Newman and Leslie Steph

... was an inquiry as to whether they would sit at it, which indeed it was. But it was further an inquiry as to whether they were of the party that was coming to sit at it, which he also quite cheerfully and unsuspectingly answered in the affirmative. He then pulled out his watch, and pointing to a given time at which he would return, he and Rendel went further away into ...

— The Arbiter - A Novel • Lady F. E. E. Bell

... working girl, for whom "society" makes no laws. In our country there is a leisure class of "society women," so recognized. If these alone constituted good society in America, we might simply adopt the European distinctions, and settle the chaperone question by a particular affirmative referring to these alone. But we reflect that our thoughts throughout this little volume are mainly for those who dwell within the broad zone of the average heretofore referred to. In this republican land ...

— Etiquette • Agnes H. Morton

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