—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.
Not functioning or operating; out of use: inactive machinery.
Not being in continuous use or operation: an inactive brokerage account.
Retired from duty or service.
Chemistry Not readily participating in chemical reactions; inert.
Biology Marked by the absence or reduction of activity, such as the ability to cause infection.
Medicine Quiescent. Used especially of a disease.
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).
(of e.g. volcanos) not erupting and not extinct ; "a dormant volcano" [syn: dormant] [ant: active]
6.
lacking in energy or will; "Much benevolence of the passive order may be traced to a disinclination to inflict pain upon oneself"- George Meredith [syn: passive] [ant: active]
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.
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