passivity
noun
pas·siv·i·ty
pa-ˈsi-və-tē
1
: the quality or state of being passive : passiveness
Silence is generally associated with passivity and expression with action, but for me silence requires the greater effort.—Carina del Valle Schorske
The only thing that I find more depressing than this charlatan is the passivity of the museum-goers who pass before his works: they may have an inkling that they are being had, but they are unable to trust the evidence of their eyes.—Jed Perl
… and now she was condemned to years of genteel English poverty by a passivity stubborn as low-grade fever.—Vivian Gornick
The implication—that American policy makers had, out of some combination of timorous passivity and treasonous perfidy, lost China to Communism—set off one of the darkest-ever turns in American civic life.—Daniel Kurtz-Phelan
2
chemistry
: a chemically inactive state
—used especially of a metal that has lost its normal chemical activity and is resistant to corrosion
The lower limit of 11% is based on the markedly increased corrosion resistance and spontaneous passivity obtained at this level.—Donald H. DeClerck et al.
Cite this Entry
“Passivity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/passivity. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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