Positive means good, helpful, or encouraging. When your teacher gives you positive feedback on your essay, she's pointing out what you did well. A positive attitude means looking at situations hopefully rather than assuming the worst. If you're positive about something, you feel confident and optimistic about it.

The word also describes something that exists or is present, rather than absent. A positive result on a science test means the substance you were looking for showed up. In mathematics, positive numbers are greater than zero: 1, 2, 3, and so on. They sit on the right side of the number line, opposite negative numbers.

In everyday conversation, staying positive means focusing on possibilities and solutions instead of dwelling on problems. When your basketball team loses a close game, a positive response might be recognizing how much you improved since last season, rather than just feeling disappointed. This doesn't mean ignoring real problems or pretending everything is perfect. It means choosing to see opportunities and strengths alongside challenges.

The opposite of positive is negative: harmful instead of helpful, absent instead of present, pessimistic instead of optimistic, or less than zero in mathematics.