Meanings
plural passive incomes
- countableuncountablebusinessAn income that is made using little to no effort, such as pension income, rent, or interest, as opposed to normal employment.
Passive income, or profits earned from so-called intangible sources such as interest, is taxed in the U.S. as it is earned.
2011 April 7, Matthew Caminiti, Paul Hughes, “Taxes 101: A Comparative Perspective”, in Businessweek, retrieved 27 Aug 20152 more examples
Players win when they get out of the rat race (salaried jobs) by amassing passive income (investments in real estate or the stock market).
2007 January 25, Penelope Green, “Barons Before Bedtime”, in New York Times, retrieved 27 Aug 2015Investing in a fully managed asset will provide a passive income and will ensure that you are not stuck with finding tenants, repairs and maintenance costs.
2015 July 30, Dale Anderson, Jeremy Solis, “Expert insights: is the UK a property safe haven?”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 27 Aug 2015
Synonyms & antonyms
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 被動收入 /被动收入
- 被動收入 /被动收入 (bèidòng shōurù)regular monetary income
Dutch passief inkomen
- passief inkomenregular monetary income
Finnish passiivitulo, passiivinen tulo
- passiivituloregular monetary income
- passiivinen tuloregular monetary income
Spanish ingreso pasivo
- ingreso pasivoregular monetary income
Cite this entry
passive income. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/passive%20income
“passive income.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/passive%20income. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “passive income,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/passive%20income.
Source: passive income on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.