affirmative

American  

[uh-fur-muh-tiv] / əˈfɜr mə tɪv /

adjective

1. affirming or assenting; asserting the truth, validity, or fact of something.

2. expressing agreement or consent; assenting.

   an affirmative reply.

3. positive; not negative.

4. Logic. noting a proposition in which a property of a subject is affirmed, as “All men are happy.”

---

noun

1. something that affirms or asserts; a positive statement or proposition; affirmation.

2. a reply indicating assent, as Yes or I do.

3. a manner or mode that indicates assent.

   a reply in the affirmative.

4. the side, as in a debate, that affirms or defends a statement that the opposite side denies or attacks.

   to speak for the affirmative.

interjection

1. (used to indicate agreement, assent, etc.).

   “Is this the right way to Lake George?” “Affirmative.”

affirmative British  

/ əˈfɜːmətɪv /

adjective

1. confirming or asserting something as true or valid

   an affirmative statement

2. indicating agreement or assent

   an affirmative answer

3. logic

   1. (of a categorial proposition) affirming the satisfaction by the subject of the predicate, as in all birds have feathers; some men are married

   2. not containing negation Compare negative

---

noun

1. a positive assertion

2. a word or phrase stating agreement or assent, such as yes (esp in the phrase answer in the affirmative )

3. logic an affirmative proposition

4. the side in a debate that supports the proposition

1. military a signal codeword used to express assent or confirmation

Other Word Forms

• affirmatively adverb
• overaffirmative adjective
• overaffirmatively adverb
• preaffirmative adjective
• quasi-affirmative adjective
• quasi-affirmatively adverb

Etymology

Origin of affirmative

1400–50; < Latin affirmātīvus, equivalent to affirmāt- ( affirmation ) + -īvus -ive; replacing late Middle English affirmatyff < Middle French < Latin

Example Sentences

“Fairly read, the Mirabelli opinion creates an affirmative obligation on school officials to disclose,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2026

President and Fellows of Harvard College, which struck down race-based affirmative action in college admissions.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 2, 2026

With this understanding of federal primacy in foreign affairs, the Supreme Court has pre-empted state laws even in the absence of any affirmative actions by the president or Congress.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026

While diversity programs have gone by a variety of names over the decades — nondiscrimination, affirmative action, DEI — they all trace their roots to the Civil Rights Movement, which lasted from 1954 to 1968.

From Salon • Jan. 19, 2026

For several reasons, and not least because I didn’t clearly know what Mr. Jaggers would be found to be “at,” I replied in the affirmative.

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens