Standard Lemma guide

actively

adv · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈæktɪvli/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AE1 K T IH0 V L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

In an active manner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • He was actively listening.
  • She was actively working, not “sleeping on the job”.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adv

Meaning 2

In the active form; not passive.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

Examples

  • a word used actively

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: passively

3

adverb

Meaning 3

in an active manner

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he participated actively in the war

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: passively

History

Etymology

From late Middle English actyvely; equivalent to active + -ly.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: بِنَشَاطٍ (binašāṭin) — in an active manner
  • Armenian: ակտիվորեն (aktivoren) — in an active manner
  • Catalan: activament — in an active manner
  • Czech: aktivně — in an active manner
  • Esperanto: aktive — in an active manner
  • Finnish: vilkkaasti — in an active manner
  • Finnish: aktiivisesti — in an active manner
  • French: activement — in an active manner
  • Galician: activamente — in an active manner
  • German: aktiv — in an active manner
  • Hungarian: aktívan — in an active manner
  • Italian: attivamente — in an active manner
  • Kazakh: белсене (belsene) — in an active manner
  • Polish: aktywnie — in an active manner
  • Portuguese: ativamente — in an active manner
  • Russian: акти́вно (aktívno) — in an active manner
  • Spanish: activamente — in an active manner
  • Spanish: enérgicamente — in an active manner
  • Swedish: aktivt — in an active manner
  • Catalan: activament — in the active form
  • Finnish: aktiivisesti — in the active form
  • German: active — in the active form
  • Latin: active — in the active form
  • Spanish: activamente — in the active form
Real reading context

actively in complete knowledge articles