Meanings
- noncompliance with an authority as a form of protest against injustice, as by fasting, peaceful demonstration, or refusal to cooperate
On June 2, Gandhiji declared in an interview that passive resistance was inevitable if Government failed to meet Indian demands.
1964, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, volume XII, →OCLC, page vi1 more example
Some Maoist “party cadres” at the lower echelon have taken an attitude of passive resistance against the “campaign of learning from Tachai in agriculture,” that was launched by Mao Tse-tung.
1975 December 21, “Difficulties in agriculture”, in Free China Weekly, volume XVI, number 50, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3
Synonyms & antonyms
nounpeaceful resistance to a government by fasting or refusing to cooperate
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Cite this entry
passive resistance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/passive%20resistance
“passive resistance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/passive%20resistance. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “passive resistance,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/passive%20resistance.
Source: passive resistance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.