in·ac·tive ( n- k t v)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·ac tive·ly adv. 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). |
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Noun | 1. | inactivity - the state of being inactivestate - the way something is with respect to its main attributes; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state" anergy - inactivity and lack of energy halt, stoppage, arrest, hitch, stay, stop, check - the state of inactivity following an interruption; "the negotiations were in arrest"; "held them in check"; "during the halt he got some lunch"; "the momentary stay enabled him to escape the blow"; "he spent the entire stop in his seat" calcification - an inflexible and unchanging state; "the calcification of negotiations" deep freeze - temporary inactivity or suspension; "the legislation has now been revived after ten years in the deep freeze" extinction - no longer active; extinguished; "the extinction of the volcano" holding pattern - a state of inaction with no progress and no change; "you should go into a holding pattern until he gets over his disappointment" rest - a state of inaction; "a body will continue in a state of rest until acted upon" doldrums, stagnation, stagnancy - a state of inactivity (in business or art etc); "economic growth of less than 1% per year is considered to be economic stagnation" stagnancy, stagnation - inactivity of liquids; being stagnant; standing still; without current or circulation stasis - inactivity resulting from a static balance between opposing forces | | 2. | inactivity - a disposition to remain inactive or inert; "he had to overcome his inertia and get back to work"trait - a distinguishing feature of your personal nature restfulness - the attribute of being restful; "he longed for the restfulness of home" | | 3. | inactivity - being inactive; being less activepause - temporary inactivity waiting, wait - the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something); "the wait was an ordeal for him" repose, rest, ease, relaxation - freedom from activity (work or strain or responsibility); "took his repose by the swimming pool" delay, holdup - the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being put off until a later time activity - any specific behavior; "they avoided all recreational activity" |
inactivitynoun immobility, unemployment, inaction, passivity, hibernation, dormancy The players have comparatively long periods of inactivity. immobility action, movement, employment, mobility, bustle, exertion, activeness
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