ˈæk.tɪv ˈæk.tɪv əˈlaɪv daɪˈnæ.mɪk characterized by energetic activity an active toddler active as a gazelle an active man is a man of action engaged in full-time work active duty though past retirement age he is still active in his profession full of activity or engaged in continuous activity an active seaport an active bond market an active account tending to become more severe or wider in scope active tuberculosis disposed to take action or effectuate change a director who takes an active interest in corporate operations an active antagonism he was active in drawing attention to their grievances (of e.g. volcanoes) erupting or liable to erupt active volcanoes (of e.g. volcanoes) capable of erupting (used of verbs (e.g. ‘to run’) and participial adjectives (e.g. ‘running’ in ‘running water’)) expressing action rather than a state of being expressing that the subject of the sentence has the semantic function of actor: exerting influence or producing a change or effect an active ingredient (of the sun) characterized by an increased occurrence of sunspots and flares and radio emissions in operation keep hope alive the tradition was still alive an active tradition taking part in an activity an active member of the club he was politically active the participating organizations engaged in or ready for military or naval operations on active duty the platoon is combat-ready review the fighting forces a person who is a participating member of an organization the club issues a list of members, both the actives and the retirees the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is performing the action or causing the happening denoted by the verb ‘The boy threw the ball’ uses the active voice chemical agent capable of activity