PASSIVE VOICE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does passive voice mean? 

• PASSIVE VOICE (noun)
  The noun PASSIVE VOICE has 1 sense:

1. the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb

  Familiarity information: PASSIVE VOICE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PASSIVE VOICE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Synonyms:

passive; passive voice

Context example:

'The ball was thrown' is an abbreviated passive

Hypernyms ("passive voice" is a kind of...):

voice ((linguistics) the grammatical relation (active or passive) of the grammatical subject of a verb to the action that the verb denotes)

Antonym:

active voice (the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is performing the action or causing the happening denoted by the verb)