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inactive

   Also found in: Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.03 sec.
in·ac·tive  (n-ktv)
adj.
1. Not active or tending to be active.
2.
a. Not functioning or operating; out of use: inactive machinery.
b. Not being in continuous use or operation: an inactive brokerage account.
3. Retired from duty or service.
4. Chemistry Not readily participating in chemical reactions; inert.
5. Biology Marked by the absence or reduction of activity, such as the ability to cause infection.
6. Medicine Quiescent. Used especially of a disease.
7. Physics Showing no optical activity in polarized light.

in·active·ly adv.
inac·tivi·ty, in·active·ness n.
Synonyms: inactive, idle, inert, passive, dormant, torpid, supine
These adjectives mean not involved in or disposed to movement or activity. Inactive simply indicates absence of activity: retired but not inactive; an inactive factory.
Idle refers to persons who are not doing anything or are not busy: employees idle because of the strike.
It also refers to what is not in use or operation: idle machinery.
Inert describes things powerless to move themselves or to produce a desired effect; applied to persons, it implies lethargy or sluggishness, especially of mind or spirit: "The Honorable Mrs. Jamieson . . . was fat and inert, and very much at the mercy of her old servants" Elizabeth C. Gaskell.
Passive implies being reactive instead of proactive: "in an hour like this, when the mind has a passive sensibility, but no active strength" Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Dormant refers principally to a state of suspended activity but often implies the possibility of renewal: dormant feelings of affection.
Torpid suggests sluggishness or apathy: "It is a man's own fault, it is from want of use, if his mind grows torpid in old age" Samuel Johnson.
Supine implies abject lack of will: "No other colony showed such supine, selfish helplessness in allowing her own border citizens to be mercilessly harried" Theodore Roosevelt.

inactive
Adjective
1. idle; not active
2. Chem (of a substance) having little or no reactivity
inactivity n
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adj.1.inactive - (chemistry) not participating in a chemical reaction; chemically inert; "desired amounts of inactive chlorine"
chemical science, chemistry - the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions
unreactive - (chemistry) not reacting chemically
2.inactive - (pathology) not progressing or increasing; or progressing slowly
pathology - the branch of medical science that studies the causes and nature and effects of diseases
active - tending to become more severe or wider in scope; "active tuberculosis"
3.inactive - (military) not involved in military operations
armed forces, armed services, military, military machine, war machine - the military forces of a nation; "their military is the largest in the region"; "the military machine is the same one we faced in 1991 but now it is weaker"
4.inactive - not exerting influence or change
active - exerting influence or producing a change or effect; "an active ingredient"
5.inactive - (of e.g. volcanos) not erupting and not extinct ; "a dormant volcano"
6.inactive - lacking in energy or will; "Much benevolence of the passive order may be traced to a disinclination to inflict pain upon oneself"- George Meredith
7.inactive - lacking activity; lying idle or unused; "an inactive mine"; "inactive accounts"; "inactive machinery"
active - full of activity or engaged in continuous activity; "an active seaport"; "an active bond market"; "an active account"
8.inactive - not engaged in full-time work; "inactive reserve"; "an inactive member"
active - engaged in full-time work; "active duty"; "though past retirement age he is still active in his profession"
9.inactive - not active physically or mentally; "illness forced him to live an inactive life"; "dreamy and inactive by nature"
lethargic, unenrgetic - deficient in alertness or activity; "bullfrogs became lethargic with the first cold nights"
active - characterized by energetic activity; "an active toddler"; "active as a gazelle"; "an active man is a man of action"
10.inactive - not in physical motion; "the inertia of an object at rest"
nonmoving, unmoving - not in motion

inactive
adjective 1. unused, idle, dormant, latent, inert, immobile, mothballed, out of service, inoperative, abeyant << OPPOSITE used
adjective 2. idle, unemployed, out of work, jobless, unoccupied, kicking your heels << OPPOSITE employed
Translations
Spanish inactive [ɪnˈæktɪv] adjinactivo
German inactive [ɪnˈæktɪv] adjuntätig

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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
A WEASEL, inactive from age and infirmities, was not able to catch mice as he once did.
As for myself, the bonds of will which held me inactive seemed like bands of steel which numbed all my faculties, except sight and hearing.
Don Quixote now felt it right to quit a life of such idleness as he was leading in the castle; for he fancied that he was making himself sorely missed by suffering himself to remain shut up and inactive amid the countless luxuries and enjoyments his hosts lavished upon him as a knight.
 
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