- engaged in action; characterized by energetic work, participation, etc.; busy: an active life.
- being in a state of existence, progress, or motion: active hostilities.
- involving physical effort and action: active sports.
- having the power of quick motion; nimble: active as a gazelle.
- characterized by action, motion, volume, use, participation, etc.: an active market in wheat; an active list of subscribers.
- causing activity or change; capable of exerting influence (opposed to passive): active treason.
- effective (opposed to inert): active ingredients.
- noting or pertaining to a voice of verbal inflection in which typically the subject of the sentence is represented as performing the action expressed by the verb (opposed to passive): Writes in He writes a letter every day is an active verb form.
- requiring or giving rise to action; practical: an active course.
- (of a volcano) having erupted within the last 10,000 years and likely to do so again or currently in a state of eruption.
- profitable; busy: active accounts.
- requiring personal effort or attention; not automatic: an active alarm system.
- interest-bearing: active paper.
- acting quickly; producing immediate effects: active remedies.
- (of a crowd) engaging in purposeful activity, often of a militant nature.
- able to transmit signals: an active communications satellite.
- (of a device or system) acting as a source of electrical energy, as a generator, or capable of amplifying or converting voltages or currents, as a transistor or diode.
- (of a solar heating system) accumulating and distributing solar heat by mechanical means.
- serving on active duty.
- Grammar.
- the active voice.
- a form or construction in the active voice.
- an active person, member, subscriber, etc.: The circular was mailed only to the actives on our list.
- something showing considerable action or activity: On the stock market there was heavy trading in the actives.
- in a state of action; moving, working, or doing something
- busy or involved
- physically energetic
- exerting influence; effective
- grammar
- denoting a voice of verbs used to indicate that the subject of a sentence is performing the action or causing the event or process described by the verb, as kicked in The boy kicked the football
- another word for nonstative
- being fully engaged in military service (esp in the phrase on active service)
- (of a volcano) erupting periodically; not extinct
- (of the sun) exhibiting a large number of sunspots, solar flares, etc, and a marked variation in intensity and frequency of radio emission
- commerce
- producing or being used to produce profit, esp in the form of interest
- of or denoting stocks or shares that have been actively bought and sold as recorded in the Official List of the London Stock Exchange
- electronics
- containing a source of power
- capable of amplifying a signal or controlling some function
- grammar
- the active voice
- an active verb
- a member of an organization who participates in its activities
