Meanings
- not comparablegrammarNot transitive: not having, or not taking, a direct object.
The word "drink" is a transitive verb in "they drink wine", but an intransitive one in "they drink often."
- not comparablerareNot transitive or passing further; kept; detained.
1664-1667, Jeremy Taylor, Dissuasive from Popery And then it is for the image's sake and so far is intransitive; but whatever is paid more to the image is transitive and passes further.
- not comparablemathematicsOf a set of dice: containing three dice A, B, and C, with the property that A rolls higher than B more than half the time, and B rolls higher than C more than half the time, but lacking the property that A rolls higher than C more than half the time. See intransitive dice and intransitive game.
plural intransitives
- grammarAn intransitive verb.
This means that subcategorization properties do not allow us to distinguish between transitives and intransitives (both types of verbs are allowed, but not obliged, to take a direct object).
2011, Carmen Dobrovie-Sorin, The Syntax of Romanian: Comparative Studies in Romance, page 136
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivedesignating a verb that does not require or cannot take a direct object
nouna verb (or verb construction) that does not take an object
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*né
- Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
- Proto-Italic*n̥-
- Latinin-
- Middle Englishin-
- Englishin-
- Englishtransitive
- Englishintransitive
From in- + transitive.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀμετάβατος
- ἀμετάβατος (ametábatos)of a verb, not taking a direct object
Arabic لَازِم
- لَازِم (lāzim)of a verb, not taking a direct object
Bengali অকর্মক ক্রিয়া
- অকর্মক ক্রিয়া (okormok kriẏa)of a verb, not taking a direct object
Bulgarian непрехо́ден
- непрехо́ден (neprehóden)of a verb, not taking a direct object
Catalan intransitiu
- intransitiuof a verb, not taking a direct object
Chinese Mandarin 不及物
- 不及物 (bùjíwù)of a verb, not taking a direct object
Czech nepřechodný
- nepřechodnýof a verb, not taking a direct object
Danish intransitiv
- intransitivof a verb, not taking a direct object
Dutch onovergangelijk, intransitief
- onovergangelijkof a verb, not taking a direct object
- intransitiefof a verb, not taking a direct object
Esperanto netransitiva
- netransitivaof a verb, not taking a direct object
Finnish intransitiivinen
- intransitiivinenof a verb, not taking a direct object
French intransitif
- intransitifof a verb, not taking a direct object
German intransitiv
- intransitivof a verb, not taking a direct object
Greek αμετάβατος
- αμετάβατος (ametávatos)of a verb, not taking a direct object
Hungarian tárgyatlan
- tárgyatlanof a verb, not taking a direct object
Icelandic áhrifslaus
- áhrifslausof a verb, not taking a direct object
Irish neamhaistreach
- neamhaistreachof a verb, not taking a direct object
Italian intransitivo
- intransitivoof a verb, not taking a direct object
Japanese 自動
- 自動 (jidō)of a verb, not taking a direct object
Korean 자동
- 자동 (jadong)of a verb, not taking a direct object
Latin intransitīvus
- intransitīvusof a verb, not taking a direct object
Norwegian intransitiv
- intransitivof a verb, not taking a direct object
Polish nieprzechodni, nietranzytywny
- nieprzechodniof a verb, not taking a direct object
- nietranzytywnyof a verb, not taking a direct object
Portuguese intransitivo
- intransitivoof a verb, not taking a direct object
Romanian intranzitiv
- intranzitivof a verb, not taking a direct object
Russian неперехо́дный
- неперехо́дный (neperexódnyj)of a verb, not taking a direct object
Scottish Gaelic anasdolach, neo-aisigeach
- anasdolachof a verb, not taking a direct object
- neo-aisigeachof a verb, not taking a direct object
- neo-chuspaireachof a verb, not taking a direct object
Slovak neprechodný
- neprechodnýof a verb, not taking a direct object
Spanish intransitivo
- intransitivoof a verb, not taking a direct object
Swedish intransitiv
- intransitivof a verb, not taking a direct object
Tagalog katawanin
- katawaninof a verb, not taking a direct object
Turkish geçişsiz
- geçişsizof a verb, not taking a direct object
Ukrainian неперехідни́й
- неперехідни́й (neperexidnýj)of a verb, not taking a direct object
Vietnamese nội
- nộiof a verb, not taking a direct object
Welsh cyflawn
- cyflawnof a verb, not taking a direct object
Cite this entry
intransitive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intransitive
“intransitive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intransitive. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “intransitive,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intransitive.
Source: intransitive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.