What does active mean in English?

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active Meaning, Definition, Pronunciation, Grammar & Synonyms❤️

active Meaning & Definition

En [ ˈæk.tɪv]
Us [ ˈæk.tɪv]

Meaning of active In English

0 busy with a particular activity:
- physically/mentally active
- You have to try to keep active as you grow older.
1 involved in a particular activity:
- Enemy forces remain active in the mountainous areas around the city.
- She's very active in (= involved in) local politics.
- Both of his parents were very politically active.
- It is important to educate children before they become sexually active.
- He takes a more active role in the team nowadays.
- She's an active member of her trade union (= not only belongs to it, but does work to help it).
2 An active volcano is one that might erupt (= throw out hot liquid rock or other matter) at any time.
3 An active verb or sentence is one in which the subject is the person or thing that performs the stated action:
- "Catrin told me" is an active sentence, and "I was told by Catrin" is passive.
4 → the active voice
5 doing something as you usually do, or being able to do something physically or mentally:
- He was still an active runner at 55.
- She’s active in state politics (= involved in it).
- She intends to remain politically active.
- His National Guard unit was put on active duty (= made part of the regular fighting force).
6 describing a verb or sentence in which the subject is the person or thing that does what is stated:
- In "Alex gave me a gift," the verb "give" is active, and in "I was given a gift by Alex," "give" is passive.
7 busy with or involved in a particular activity:
- active in sth He expects to remain active in commodity trading in London.
- She claims to be active in almost every aspect of her business.
8 doing something practical rather than allowing a situation to develop by itself:
- an active member/participant He has been an active member of the Executive Committee since 2004.
- an active part/role Employees who take an active part in the project feel more involved and more responsible about the results.
- active participation/intervention
- active in sth We would expect countries whose firms are highly globalized to be more active in adopting e-commerce.
9 involving a lot of buying and selling of shares, etc.:
- active buying/trading Trading was most active in five-year maturities.
- The session was active early, but volume dropped off after midday.
- This made Intel the second-most active stock in U.S. trading.
10 used to describe a company that is selling goods and services or doing business, especially in a particular place:
- Whitbread was especially active but several other brewers were also buying at the rate of 20 or 30 a year.
- be active in sth The company is active in a wide range of businesses, including oil, chemicals, and construction.
- Over the last ten years, the company has become active in Europe.
11 working or being used at a particular time:
- active accounts/cardholders/customers The company has more than one million active cardholders, with about 44% of all group sales being made through the card.
- active employees/members
- The organization releases a weekly survey of the number of active oil and gas drilling rigs in the U.S. and Canada.
12 relating to programs, etc. that are being used at a particular time:
- Click the associated tab in a bar running across the screen, and the selected page opens in the active window.

More Definitions of active

Examples of active

It's good for old people to stay active if they can.
I had an active social life when I was at college.
At 84 he's still quite active, although he walks with the aid of a stick.
It was a very active day on the stock market today.
They both play an active part in their local church.
When you use active verbs in your written work, rather than passive ones, it sounds clearer and more direct.
Active sentences, such as 'The dog chased the cat', are more concise than passive sentences like 'The cat was chased by the dog'.
Speech-writers should use active verbs for a strong, direct style.

More Examples of active

Trends of active

Grammar of active

0 Word order and focus

There are a number of ways in which we can arrange subjects, verbs, objects, complements and adjuncts within a clause. Depending on how we arrange them, we can focus on certain elements over others, especially if we arrange them in an unusual way.
1 Word order: structures

There are a number of options which we can use to add emphasis or focus within a clause.
2 Indirect object versus prepositional complement

When we talk about someone receiving something, we can express it using the typical word order: indirect object (io) + direct object (do).
3 Active and passive voice

Active voice is the typical word order. That is when we put the subject (the doer) first, followed by the new information (which is the focus):
4 Cleft sentences

Cleft means ‘divided’ and in a cleft sentence a single message is divided across two clauses. We use cleft sentences, especially in speaking, to connect what is already understood to what is new to the listener. By doing this we can focus on the new information. There are different types of cleft sentence.