Meaning of passive-aggressive | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Showing passive, sometimes obstructionist resistance to following authoritative instructions in interpersonal or occupational situations.
2. Showing covert hostility, intending to cause annoyance or to humiliate, while maintaining a transparent (to the recipient) veneer of politeness.

Equivalents

Examples

““I Love Lisa” opens with one of my favorite underappreciated running jokes from The Simpsons: the passive-aggressive, quietly contentious relationship of radio jocks Bill and Marty, whose mindless happy talk regularly gives way to charged exchanges that betray the simmering resentment and disappointment perpetually lingering just under the surface of their relationship.”

“Curt texts, unanswered emails, Facebook statuses declaring “someone” to be an idiot, the notorious subtweet; if you can communicate with it, people can be passive aggressive with it. No doubt there were frosty telegrams in centuries gone by.”

CEFR level