General medical words
What Do Positive and Negative Test Results Mean?
Positive and Negative Results · say it: POZ-ih-tiv and NEG-uh-tivAlso written: positive result, negative result, detected, not detected, reactive, non-reactive
Short answer
On most tests, positive means the thing being tested for was found, and negative means it was not found; neither word means good or bad.
What it means
In medical testing, "positive" simply means the test detected what it was looking for, such as a germ, an antibody or a marker. "Negative" means it was not detected. The words describe the result, not whether the news is welcome.
So a negative result can be good news (for example, no infection found), and a positive result can also be good news (for example, positive for immunity after vaccination). Context decides.
The word "positive" is also used in other ways, such as positive margins on a pathology report or a positive finding on an exam. If a report uses these words, it helps to check exactly what was being tested.
Where you may see it
- Infection tests (swabs, blood tests)
- Pregnancy, drug and screening tests
- Antibody and immunity tests
📄 How it looks on a report
SARS-CoV-2 PCR: Not detected (Negative)
🙅 What it does not mean
- Positive does not mean good, and negative does not mean bad; they only say whether something was found.
- No test is perfect. A positive can occasionally be false, and a negative can miss something, especially if the test was done too early.
- A positive result is not always a diagnosis; some positives need a confirmatory test.
🗒️ Questions to ask your doctor
🧾 Reports where you will see “Positive and Negative Results”
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💊 Medicines whose labels mention “Positive and Negative Results”
Plain-English explanations of each medicine, from its official FDA label.
- Cephalexin
a cephalosporin antibacterial medicine (an antibiotic that treats bacterial infections)
- Enalapril
An angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor
- Lisinopril
an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, a type of medicine that helps relax blood vessels to lower blood pressure
- Losartan Potassium
an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), a type of medicine used to lower blood pressure
- Metoprolol Tartrate
A beta blocker. The label describes it as a selective beta-1 adrenergic receptor blocking agent, which means it mainly blocks beta-1 receptors, found largely in the heart.
- Rosuvastatin
a cholesterol-lowering medicine of the statin type (an HMG CoA reductase inhibitor)
- Valsartan
An angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), a type of medicine used to treat high blood pressure and certain heart conditions
🔗 Read more from trusted sources
- “Positive and Negative Results” on MedlinePlus ↗
US National Library of Medicine
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More words: general medical words
General information about a medical word, not advice about your own results. Ask the clinician who ordered the test what it means for you.