What is a negative number?

A negative number is any number below zero, shown with a minus sign such as −3. On a number line, negative numbers sit to the left of zero. They are used for things like temperatures below freezing, being in debt, or floors below ground level.

Examples

• −5 is less than −2 because it is further left of zero.
• A temperature of −4°C is four degrees below zero.
• Owing $10 can be shown as −10.

Quick facts

• The further a negative number is from zero, the smaller it is: −8 is less than −3.
• Zero is the boundary between positive and negative numbers.