not active, but acted upon; suffering or receiving impressions or influences; as, they were passive spectators, not actors in the scene.-receiving or enduring without either active sympathy or active resistance; without emotion or excitement; patient; not opposing; unresisting; as, passive obedience; passive submission.-inactive; inert; not showing strong affinity; as, red phosphorus is comparatively passive.-designating certain morbid conditions, as hemorrhage or dropsy, characterized by relaxation of the vessels and tissues, with deficient vitality and lack of reaction in the affected tissues.