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in active

 - 2 dictionary results

in⋅ac⋅tive

[in-ak-tiv]
–adjective
1. not active: an inactive volcano.
2. sedentary or passive: an inactive life.
3. sluggish; indolent.
4. Military. not on active duty.
5. Chemistry.
a. inert; unreactive.
b. noting a compound that has no effect on polarized light.

Origin:
1715–25; in- 3 + active


in⋅ac⋅tive⋅ly, adverb
in⋅ac⋅tiv⋅i⋅ty, in⋅ac⋅tive⋅ness, noun


1. unmoving, immobile, inoperative. 1, 2. Inactive, dormant, inert, sluggish, torpid suggest lack of activity. Inactive indicates absence of action, indisposition to activity, or cessation of activity: an inactive compound, life, file of papers. Dormant suggests the quiescence or inactivity of that which sleeps but may be roused to action: a dormant volcano. Inert suggests the condition of dead matter, with no inherent power of motion or action; it may also mean unable to move, or heavy and hard to move: an inert mass; inert from hunger. Sluggish expresses slowness of natural activity or of that which does not move readily or vigorously: a sluggish stream, brain. Torpid suggests a state of suspended physical powers, a condition particularly of animals that hibernate: Snakes are torpid in cold weather. 3. lazy, idle, slothful.


1–3. lively.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: in·ac·tive
Pronunciation: (')in-'ak-tiv
Function: adjective
: not active: as a : marked by deliberate or enforcedabsence of activity or effort inactive life> b of a disease : not progressing or fulminating : QUIESCENT c (1) : chemically inert <inactive charcoal> (2) : not exhibiting opticalactivity in polarized light d : biologically inert especially because of the loss of some quality (as infectivity or antigenicity) —in·ac·tiv·ity /(")in-"ak-'tiv-&t-E/ noun plural -ties
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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