Passive-aggressive behaviour is "indirect" aggression that pretends to be innocent. This means someone pretends to be nice, but is actually being aggressive. It can happen when people do what others want to stop direct confrontation, but they do not agree with what is ordered or suggested . A passive-aggressive person tries to hide their underlying (real, genuine) aggression. For example, "I would have had a good day if I hadn't been cleaning up someone's mess".