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inactive - 4 dictionary results
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in⋅ac⋅tive

  [in-ak-tiv]
Use inactive in a Sentence
–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

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

Synonyms:
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.

Antonyms:
1–3. lively.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To inactive
in·ac·tive   (ĭn-āk'tĭv)   
adj.  
  1. Not active or tending to be active.
    1. Not functioning or operating; out of use: inactive machinery.
    2. 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., in'ac·tiv'i·ty, in·ac'tive·ness n.
Synonyms: 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).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Inactive

In*ac"tive\, a. [Pref. in- not + active: cf. F. inactif.]

1. Not active; having no power to move; that does not or can not produce results; inert; as, matter is, of itself, inactive.

2. Not disposed to action or effort; not diligent or industrious; not busy; idle; as, an inactive officer.

3. (Chem. & Opt.) Not active; inert; esp., not exhibiting any action or activity on polarized light; optically neutral; -- said of isomeric forms of certain substances, in distinction from other forms which are optically active; as, racemic acid is an inactive tartaric acid.

Syn: Inert; dull; sluggish; idle; indolent; slothful; lazy. See Inert.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : inactive
Spanish: inactivoinactivo,
German: träge,
Japanese: 不活発な
More Translations »

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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