Collocations for "positive"
Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word "positive" in context.
WordReference English Collocations © 2026
positive
ⓘMost examples are given in US English. We have labeled exceptions as UK.adj
- a positive [thinker, person, worker]
- a positive [reply, contribution, answer, development]
- a positive [mood, frame of mind, character, approach, attitude, personality]
- positive [thoughts, actions, ideas, feedback]
- make a positive change (to)
- make a positive impression (on)
- have a positive [influence, impact] (on)
- a positive [trend, movement, development] (towards)
- try to have a (more) positive attitude (towards)
- am trying to stay positive, but
- you need to stay positive!
- a positive reaction to the [defeat, news, comment]
- (the) positive [aspects, points, elements] (of)
- [take, extract, identify] the positive [aspects]
- positive [results, outcomes, consequences]
- a positive [outlook, future]
- a positive [number, total, amount, integer]
- a positive electric [charge, current]
- positive (or negative) [energy, charge]
- a positive identification of the [body, victim, suspect]
- a positive test for [drugs]
- tested positive for [drugs, steroids, alcohol, performance enhancers]
- the [blood, urine, doping] test came back positive
- I'm [totally, absolutely] positive that
- is positive (that) they will [win, finish, be on time]
- Are you positive?
- well, no, I'm not positive
- you [must, need to] be more positive
- [got, gave] a false positive
- the test (result) was a positive
- the positives (and negatives) of the [job, position]
- is one of the many positives of
- are just a few of the positives
- make a list of the positives
- discuss the positives and negatives (of)
- is one of the [few, many] positives (of)
- is a definite positive
- is considered a positive for the [job, position]
- [emphasize, accentuate, highlight] your positives
- [emphasize] the positives (of)
- put a positive instead of a negative
- [develop, print, enlarge] positives
- [verbs, auxiliaries] in the positive
'positive' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
AIDS
- ID
- aspect
- attitude
- attribute
- balance
- bearer
- blood
- body
- character
- characteristic
- climate
- conjunction
- disposition
- effect
- emotion
- encourage
- equally
- evaluate
- exert
- expectation
- false
- feedback
- flow
- forecast
- hopeful
- impact
- impression
- language
- lasting
- magnet
- make
- manner
- not
- outlook
- portray
- promote
- reaction
- receive
- remark
- resumé
- review
- sample
- scenario
- sentiment
- sign
- skew
- slant
- specimen
- spin