Passive Voice Definition & Meaning

Definition

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Examples

passive voice Cultural

1. One of the two “voices” of verbs (see also active voice). A verb is in the passive voice when the subject of the sentence is acted on by the verb. For example, in “The ball was thrown by the pitcher,” the ball (the subject) receives the action of the verb, and was thrown is in the passive voice. The same sentence cast in the active voice would be, “The pitcher threw the ball.”

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It is usually preferable to use the active voice wherever possible, because it gives a sense of immediacy to the sentence.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Michelle is fluent in the perky command, the passive voice, the slippery non-apology, the kind of language that frames cruelty as blameless happenstance.

From Los Angeles Times

Notice the passive voice in its assertions that its channels “are blacked out due to a dispute” and that it hopes that further conversations with Charter “will restore access to its content.”

From Los Angeles Times

In the courtroom his lawyer read out a carefully written, complicated text, full of caveats, conditionals and the passive voice.

From BBC

The passive voice — “was waved off,” “was materially misled” — represents the limits of the reporting, not of the testimony.

From Los Angeles Times

Blame is typically cast in the passive voice: Weather scientists crafted attention-grabbing terms, which were drawn into the ratings-driven media vortex.

From New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.