active
/ˈaktɪv
/adjective
1Engaging or ready to engage in physically energetic pursuits: although he was seventy he was still robust and active...
- Among older adults categorized as physically active, 24.7 percent engage in strength training.
- Despite predictions of almost unbounded mobility, most people in industrialised nations are less physically active than ever before.
- Being physically active also helps, a morning run, ride or swim really gets those feel good hormones pumping and keeps those cortisol levels down.
Synonyms
mobile, energetic, agile, sporty, nimble, vigorous, vital, dynamic, sprightly, spry, lively, animated, bouncy, bubbly, perky, frisky, zestful, spirited;
busy, bustling, occupied, involved
informal on the go, on the move, full of get-up-and-go, full of vim and vigour, full of beans, sparky, zippy, peppy, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed
North American informal go-go
1.1Moving or tending to move about vigorously or frequently: I couldn’t feel the baby moving, and it was normally very active...
- This is analogous to the predator also being an active forager moving frequently between patches.
- If the defense is active and moves from one side of the offense to the other quickly, it can be confusing to the offensive players teammates.
- S / he is a good size, vigorously active, has all the relevant bits and bobs, and is doing just fine.
1.2Characterized by busy or lively activity: they enjoyed an active social life...
- These are busy women with very active social lives.
- Not that Elle actually had time to notice what went on with Aaron lately, what with her new busy and active social life and all.
- Why not come along and join us. we are a very busy and active institute and meet on the third Thursday at St Peter's Church in Hextable.
1.3(Of a person’s mind or imagination) alert and lively: Caroline nodded slowly, her active mind already racing ahead...
- All the poems in Trouble in Mind depend on the reader's active imagination; in fact, they read as instructions for it.
- Not that I've spent a lot of time rummaging around such places, mind you, but I got me an active imagination.
- My friend also had something most of these heirs don't: a vital and active mind.
2Participating or engaged in a particular sphere or activity: sexually active teenagers she was an active member of the society...
- The order has a large urban base, and its educated members are particularly politically active.
- About a quarter were sexually active before participating in the Wise Guys program.
- He became politically active as a student and was a founder member of the Congress of Democrats.
Synonyms
hard-working, busy, industrious, diligent, tireless, contributing, enterprising, influential;
occupied, engaged, involved;
enthusiastic, keen, committed, devoted, determined, zealous, militant, radical
informal go-getting, go-ahead
2.1 [predicative] (Of a person or animal) pursuing their usual occupation or activity at a particular place or time: tigers are active mainly at night...
- The lack of knowledge stemmed from the fact that cats are active mainly at night and almost impossible to see in the dense vegetation where they usually live.
- These are those who live in the areas where the fighters are active.
- The Feather finfish resembling a bat is active at night.
3In operation; working: the old watermill was active until 1960...
- Rational strengths of force groupings for the employment in the zone of active combat operations can be substantiated by two methods.
- And, frankly, we saw what happened once active operations got under way.
- He has also noted that about half the cases this year occurred during active hostilities or combat operations in the Persian Gulf.
Synonyms
operative, working, functioning, functional, operating, operational, in action, in operation, in force, live;
effective, effectual, powerful, potent, non-passive, non-inert
informal up and running
3.1(Of an electric circuit) capable of modifying its state or characteristics automatically in response to input or feedback: the receiver is continuously active whenever the vehicle ignition is switched on...
- An active cascode amplifier circuit which includes an active cascode amplifier and an amplitude limiter.
- An active bypass circuit for use with a battery pack having a plurality of cells and method of operation thereof.
- Each of the associated heater resistors has associated active circuitry on the chip.
3.2(Of a volcano) that is erupting or has erupted in historical times: the volcano became active on 28 March last year Etna is Europe’s highest and most active volcano...
- Deception Island is a historically active volcano with the last eruptions about 30 years ago.
- The active volcanoes erupt a type of rock known as basalt.
- Some of the best rice-growing regions of Indonesia are in the shadow of active volcanoes.
3.3(Of a disease) in which the symptoms are manifest; not in remission or latent.Two percent of elderly with latent infections develop active tuberculosis....
- In this regard, it is desirable to test their ability to distinguish between active disease and indolent infection.
- The differential diagnosis from chronic active hepatitis may present some difficult problems.
3.4Having a chemical or biological effect on something: active ingredients...
- This was supposedly caused by a chemical transformation of the active ingredient, but that conclusion was disputed by other scientists.
- They then perform a crude screening of the organisms to determine if they contain novel chemicals that are biologically active.
- Large numbers of plant species are a great source of biologically active compounds whose effect on human health or genetic material is mostly unknown.
4 Grammar Denoting a voice of verbs in which the subject is typically the person or thing performing the action and which can take a direct object (e.g. she loved him as opposed to the passive form he was loved).Be ruthless with clutter, write in the active voice, place each idea into a sentence of its own, and lastly, get your punctuation right....
- Military vision documents are written in the active voice, with strong verbs and modifiers.
- Another advantage of sentences written in active voice is that the sentences are usually shorter.
noun Grammar
An active form of a verb.By the way, they discuss many different kinds of bias on the part of the news agency, not just choice between actives and passives....
- Then there were yet more inflections of verbs, passives alongside actives, subjunctives alongside indicatives, imperatives, present and past participles, gerunds and gerundives.
Derivatives
activeness
/ nounOrigin
Middle English (in the sense 'preferring action to contemplation'): from Latin activus, from act- 'done', from the verb agere.