affirmative action

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forbidden word: affirmative action

affirmative action

affirmative

adj

  1. affirming or assenting; asserting the truth, validity, or fact of something.

  2. expressing agreement or consent; assenting.
    an affirmative reply.

  3. positive; not negative.

  4. Logic.,  noting a proposition in which a property of a subject is affirmed, as “All men are happy.”

noun

  1. something that affirms or asserts; a positive statement or proposition; affirmation.

  2. a reply indicating assent, as Yes or I do.

  3. a manner or mode that indicates assent.
    a reply in the affirmative.

  4. the side, as in a debate, that affirms or defends a statement that the opposite side denies or attacks.
    to speak for the affirmative.

interjection

  1. (used to indicate agreement, assent, etc.).
    “Is this the right way to Lake George?” “Affirmative.”

Other Word Forms

  • affirmatively adverb
  • overaffirmative adjective
  • overaffirmatively adverb
  • preaffirmative adjective
  • quasi-affirmative adjective
  • quasi-affirmatively adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of affirmative1
1400–50; < Latin affirmātīvus, equivalent to affirmāt- ( affirmation ) + -īvus -ive; replacing late Middle English affirmatyff < Middle French < Latin

from — Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words. (2025d). In Dictionary.com. 

action¹

noun

  1. the process or state of acting or of being active.
    The machine is not in action now.
    Synonyms: operation, movement
    Antonyms: inactivity, rest

  2. something done or performed; act; deed.

  3. an act that one consciously wills and that may be characterized by physical or mental activity.
    a crisis that demands action instead of debate; hoping for constructive action by the landlord.

  4. actions, habitual or usual acts; conduct.
    He is responsible for his actions.
    Synonyms: behavior

  5. energetic activity.
    a man of action.

  6. an exertion of power or force.
    the action of wind upon a ship’s sails.

  7. effect or influence.
    the action of morphine.

  8. Physiology.,  a change in organs, tissues, or cells leading to performance of a function, as in muscular contraction.

  9. way or manner of moving.
    the action of a machine or of a horse.

  10. the mechanism by which something is operated, as that of a gun or a piano.

  11. a military encounter or engagement; battle, skirmish, or the like.

  12. actual engagement in fighting an enemy; military or naval combat.
    He saw action in Vietnam.
    Synonyms: skirmish, fight, encounter, brush

  13. Literature.,  the main subject or story, as distinguished from an incidental episode.

  14. Theater.

    1. an event or series of events that form part of a dramatic plot.
      the action of a scene.

    2. one of the three unities.

  15. the gestures or deportment of an actor or speaker.
    Synonyms: plot

  16. Fine Arts.,  the appearance of animation, movement, or emotion given to figures by their attitude, position, or expression.

  17. Law.

    1. a proceeding instituted by one party against another.

    2. the right of bringing it.

  18. Slang.

    1. interesting or exciting activity, often of an illicit nature.
      He gave us some tips on where the action was.

    2. gambling or the excitement of gambling.
      The casino usually offers plenty of action.

    3. money bet in gambling, especially illegally.

  19. Ecclesiastical.

    1. a religious ceremony, especially a Eucharistic service.

    2. the canon of the Mass.

    3. those parts of a service of worship in which the congregation participates.

adj

characterized by brisk or dynamic action.
an action car; an action melodrama.

action²

noun
U.S. Government.

an independent agency created in 1971 to administer domestic volunteer programs.

Other Word Forms

  • actionless adjective
  • nonaction noun
  • preaction noun
  • proaction adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of action1
First recorded in 1300–50; from Latin āctiōn- (stem of āctiō ), equivalent to āct(us) (past participle) + -iōn- replacing Middle English accioun, from Anglo-French, from Latin ; act, -ion

Origin of action2
Named by analogy with the acronymic names of other agencies, but itself not an acronym

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

  1. in action,

    1. performing or taking part in a characteristic act.
      The school baseball team is in action tonight.

    2. working; functioning.
      His rescuing the child was bravery in action.

  2. out of action, removed from action, as by sudden disability.
    The star halfback is out of action with a bad knee.

  3. piece of the action, a share of the proceeds or profits.
    Cut me in for a piece of the action.

  4. take action,

    1. to start doing something.
      As soon as we get his decision, we’ll take action.

    2. to start a legal procedure.

More idioms and phrases containing action

from — Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words. (2025d). In Dictionary.com. 

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affirmative action

affirmative action

noun

the encouragement of increased representation of women and minority-group members, especially in employment.

More

Affirmative action has been extremely controversial. Supporters maintain that it is the only way to overcome the effects of past discrimination and promote integration. Critics dismiss it as “reverse discrimination,” denying opportunities to qualified whites and men. (See Bakke decision).

Other Word Forms

  • affirmative-action adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of affirmative action1
First recorded in 1960–65
from — Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words. (2025d). In Dictionary.com. 

affirmative action

Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries’ laws and policies)[a] refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking to address systemic discrimination. Historically and internationally, support for affirmative action has been justified by the idea that it may help with bridging inequalities in employment and pay, increasing access to education, and promoting diversity, social equity, and social inclusion and redressing wrongs, harms, or hindrances, also called substantive equality.[8]

The nature of affirmative-action policies varies from region to region and exists on a spectrum from a hard quota to merely targeting encouragement for increased participation. Some countries use a quota system, reserving a certain percentage of government jobs, political positions, and school vacancies for members of a certain group; an example of this is the reservation system in India. In some other jurisdictions where quotas are not used, minority-group members are given preference or special consideration in selection processes. In the United States, affirmative action by executive order originally meant selection without regard to race but preferential treatment was widely used in college admissions, as upheld in the 2003 Supreme Court case Grutter v. Bollinger, until 2023, when this was overturned in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.[9]

A variant of affirmative action more common in Europe is known as positive action, wherein equal opportunity is promoted by encouraging underrepresented groups into a field. This is often described as being “color blind“, but some American sociologists have argued that this is insufficient to achieve substantive equality of outcomes based on race.[10][11]

In the United States, affirmative action is controversial[12] and public opinion on the subject is divided. Supporters of affirmative action argue that it promotes substantive equality for group outcomes and representation for groups, which are socio-economically disadvantaged or have faced historical discrimination or oppression.[13][14] Opponents of affirmative action have argued that it is a form of reverse discrimination,[15] that it tends to benefit the most privileged within minority groups at the expense of the least fortunate within majority groups,[16] or that—when applied to universities—it can hinder minority students by placing them in courses for which they have not been adequately prepared.[17]

from — Wikipedia contributors. (2025n, November 19). Affirmative action. Wikipedia. 

see more on this topic at – Wikipedia contributors. (2025n, November 19). Affirmative action. Wikipedia. 

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example sentences: affirmative action

However, in contexts with affirmative action programs, these traits are simultaneously socially equalizing or advantageous.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

In the unobtrusive version, the affirmative action statement is embedded in a list of other potentially objectionable items about taxes, pollution and so on.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Our unobtrusive measure (described below) allows us to discern respondents’ opposition to affirmative action without requiring them to reveal their opposition to the survey interviewer.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

As noted above, the party position on the status of the state and on affirmative action as a principle is decisive.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

So far, affirmative action has advanced the fastest in civil service employment.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

This is the kind of logic that undergirds affirmative action measures.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Some accepted desegregation in principle but opposed the means chosen to implement it : federal intervention, busing, or affirmative action.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Bilingual education, “diversity” programs, and affirmative action policies aim to do more than assure individual opportunity by remedying specific discriminatory acts.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Right now, no political organisation has affirmative action internally.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Each group had its own culture and language and had its own affirmative action policies tied to it.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

In the affirmative action empire, each nationality needed its own language in which to cultivate its distinctive socialist culture.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Their main focus was girls’ preferences, and they sought to determine whether the rise of feminism and affirmative action had produced any effect.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

She is willing to support affirmative action as one means to tackle the problem.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

On this basis, she made a lively defence of the politics of reparation and above all, of affirmative action.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Note that in the treatment conditions each respondent received one (not both) of these affirmative action items.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

The analogous calculation for conservatives reveals that about 47 per cent are angered by affirmative action, statistically indistinguishable from their liberal counterparts.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Measures to deal with discrimination can vary and, for example, need not always include affirmative action.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

In this way five of the focus groups saw the affirmative action legislation of the central government as problematic.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Such evidence would suggest affirmative action as a guaranteed outcome, at least in the public sector.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

While problems in defining what affirmative action is, and how it should be implemented, are acknowledged, attempts to clarify these issues remain vague.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Given this, it is a significant finding that most of the focus group participants perceived themselves as being deprived by affirmative action legislation.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

But how can we tell whether our claims about the true distribution of opposition to affirmative action are right?
From the Cambridge English Corpus

To assess the success of the randomized assignment, the demographic characteristics of respondents in the baseline and affirmative action conditions were compared.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Overarching most of these kinds of school admissions affirmative action arguments is a cultural claim.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Privately acknowledging anger over affirmative action might conflict with a respondent’s desired ‘presentation of self’.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Affirmative action is conceived as an opportunity for social equalisation in which personal growth and an individual’s capacity to change are highlighted.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

The interviews also elicited discussion of affirmative action, racism, sexism, racial democracy and other current topics.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

This essay discusses how affirmative action came to a historically white and male aerospace sector.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

But publicly acknowledging anger over affirmative action might also have undesired political consequences.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

If we ask respondents directly how they feel about affirmative action, we will underestimate the degree of opposition to these policies among liberals.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Clearly, the potential for conflict between those forces advocating affirmative action to assist underdeveloped countries and those advocating open competition is considerable.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Rather than viewing affirmative action as an exception to equality, they see preferential treatment of disadvantaged groups as part of the right to equality.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

The policy of affirmative action adopted by the national government was seen as a further threat.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

For the promotion of female scientists in these research organizations, affirmative action programs should have a legal basis similar to that in the universities.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Since then arguments over such contentious issues as affirmative action have stirred mutual mistrust.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Such procedures may be equal division of the goods, randomization between individuals, or affirmative action policies.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

He suggests that affirmative action does not go far enough to address power differentials in professional settings.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Although there is no way of knowing whether an individual respondent is angry about affirmative action, the same is not true for the respondents as a group.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Another randomly selected group of respondents is given the same list of items, but with the addition of one item assessing anger towards affirmative action (thus forming the ‘treatment’ condition).
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Together, these dimensions of antidiscrimination institutions have shaped the implementation of policy and the development (or nondevelopment) of affirmative action or other practices that entail some form of race-conscious classification.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

This may be, in fact, the ‘lowest common denominator’ amongst rules that cover such assorted policy areas as affirmative action policies to standards for steam locomotives.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Conceivably the list of potentially negative items might produce a ‘halo effect’ and lead respondents to view the affirmative action item more negatively than they otherwise would.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Unlike other social policies, affirmative action is relatively inexpensive and can be engineered by the executive branch without the need to broker deals with congressional members.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Such an emphasis on socio-economic background and potential would also help to prevent only the upper stratum of the stigmatised group being assisted by affirmative action policies.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Affirmative action focused on race facilitates the acquisition of wealth by an already privileged enclave because it does not seek to eliminate or even reduce class distinctions.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

The inertia of social structure: affirmative action or seniority in layoffs?
From the Cambridge English Corpus

In particular, racial liberals may fear that expressing opposition to affirmative action might lend political support to the broader effort to weaken social policies aimed at redressing racial inequality.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Early thefts of land and cattle from the indigenous people by the settlers gave the ‘ land issue ‘ particular significance, while subsequent discriminatory practices required affirmative action and redistribution to reverse.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Because the interviewer remains blind to the respondents’ racial views, a respondent who would otherwise be uncomfortable expressing anger over affirmative action can do so more freely.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

In this sense affirmative action incorporates a number of measures which become valuable tools in ensuring that those previously excluded and disadvantaged gain access to equal opportunities.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

from — AFFIRMATIVE ACTION example sentences | Cambridge Dictionary. (2025). 

November 21, 2025
Hudson Valley, New York

This is one of the words/ phrases you can’t say in the new Trump Regime. See a comprehensive list at the Forbidden Words Project.

image: blue door © Holly Troy 11.2025

“The White House has said it did not create a banned words list but has instead left it to federal agencies to interpret how to comply with executive orders that solely recognize male and female sex or eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Nonetheless, some departments have added terms that seem to have nothing at all to do with those executive orders.”

from — Ltolin. (2025c, October 3). Federal Government’s Growing Banned Words List Is Chilling Act of Censorship. PEN America. 

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Holly hails from an illustrious lineage of fortune tellers, yogis, folk healers, troubadours and poets of the fine and mystical arts. Shape-shifting Tantric Siren of the Lunar Mysteries, she surfs the ebbs and flows of the multiverse on the Pure Sound of Creation. Her alchemy is Sacred Folly — revolutionary transformation through Love, deep play, Beauty, and music.

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