unpassiveadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈpasɪv/, U.S. /ˌənˈpæsɪv/ 1. = impassive adj. (in various senses).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > [adjective] > as opposed to passive
activea1398
agent1535
unpassive1602
unparalysed1814
non-passive1905
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > [adjective] > incapable of physical suffering
unthrowlyc1225
impassiblea1340
unpassiblec1390
unpainfulc1450
impatible?1541
passiveless1602
unpassive1602
impassive1667
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > nature or attributes of God > [adjective] > incapable of suffering
unthrowlyc1225
unpassiblec1390
unpassive1602
impassible1624
1602 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) xiii. lxxix. 326 Sufficeth vs to know he is..Vnpassiue, vnmateriall, vncompounded, Infinite.
?a1656 J. Poole Eng. Parnassus (1657) 104 Gods... Adored, propitious, unpassive.
1691 E. Taylor J. Böhme's Theosophick Philos. 46 In This Strife Christ brought the Will of Man through Death and Hell to subsist in God, unpassive, that it may subsist in the Fire, unapprehended by the Fire.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iv. 180 The principal of those [habits] are faith, and hope, and charity,..unpassive compliance, readiness to please, and easiness to be pleased.
1793 J. Anketell Poems 131 Infallible, omniscient, ador'd, Unpassive, loving, ever-watchful Lord.
1839 Literary World 15 June 187/2 In their unpassive and fixed eyes..it was impossible to discover whether the symptoms were propitious or menacing.
1850 R. Montgomery in Churchman's Pulpit 63/2 Not meaning..he is to sit down like an unpassive machine under every act of despotism.
1901 Med. Visitor 1 July 393 Guarding the entrance through which all incoming infection must pass they certainly cannot remain persistently unpassive.
2009 A. Finger Call me Ahab 10 It's the hand that fascinates Frida, in its infinite, unpassive receptivity.
2. Not passive; active.Apparently not recorded in 19th cent.
ΚΠ
?1707 High-church Bully (single sheet) Mirror of Courage mixt with Manly Pride, Thou bravely layst Unmanly Grace aside, as quite unfit to Stem th' Unpassive Tide, Of Whiggish Factions, that must needs o'erwhelm thee.
1728 Velvet Coffee-woman 45 His unpassive, turbulent Spirit..occasioned his being, at several Times, put into every Dungeon of that Prison.
1904 Friend 7 Sept. 1/3 There may be an unpassive, that is, an impatient activity.
1977 J. R. Hust in Ling. Anal. 3 31 (title) The syntax of unpassive construction in English.
2005 Times 12 Jan. (T2 section) 4/4 What is the most unpassive, aggressive, dynamic object we could build?
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1602