Positive resist composition containing a novolak resin made from an aldehyde and dimer of isopropenyl phenol

A positive resist composition comprising in admixture a quinone diazide compound prepared by a condensation reaction of naphthoquinone diazide sulfonyl chloride or benzoquinone diazidesulfonyl chloride with a compound having a hydroxyl group in the presence of a weak alkali, and an alkali-soluble novolak resin which is obtainable by a condensation reaction of an aldehyde and a compound of the formula:

• ##STR17## wherein E.sub.1 to E.sub.9 are the same or different and independently a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, a halogen atom or a hydroxyl group, provided that at least one of E.sub.1 to E.sub.9 is a hydroxyl group and that at least two of E.sub.1 to E.sub.9 at the ortho- and para-positions to said at least one hydroxyl group are hydrogen atoms.