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View synonyms for inert

inert

[ in-urt, ih-nurt ]

adjective

  1. having no inherent power of action, motion, or resistance ( active ):

    inert matter.

    Synonyms: motionless, lifeless, unmoving, immobile

  2. Chemistry. having little or no ability to react, as nitrogen that occurs uncombined in the atmosphere.
  3. Pharmacology. having no pharmacological action, as the excipient of a pill.
  4. inactive or sluggish by habit or nature.


inert

/ ɪnˈɜːt /

adjective

  1. having no inherent ability to move or to resist motion
  2. inactive, lazy, or sluggish
  3. having only a limited ability to react chemically; unreactive


inert

/ ĭn-ûrt /

  1. Not chemically reactive.


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Derived Forms

  • inˈertly, adverb
  • inˈertness, noun

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Other Words From

  • in·ertly adverb
  • in·ertness noun
  • nonin·ert adjective
  • nonin·ertly adverb
  • nonin·ertness noun
  • unin·ert adjective
  • unin·ertly adverb

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Word History and Origins

Origin of inert1

First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin inert- (stem of iners ) “unskillful,” equivalent to in- in- 3 + -ert-, combining form of art- (stem of ars ) “skill”; art 1

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Word History and Origins

Origin of inert1

C17: from Latin iners unskilled, from in- 1+ ars skill; see art 1

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Synonym Study

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Example Sentences

Sometimes it’s more expensive, sometimes it’s not — but if it is, it may be worth the extra investment in your health so that you can avoid ingesting trace amounts of pesticides and the inert ingredients in pesticides, which include some phthalates.

For a bomb to be useful, it needs to remain inert until deliberately armed, it needs to cause an explosion of a useful size, and it ideally uses the minimum amount of material to make all that work.

Even ExxonMobil, which has been more inert on that score, announced this week that it will launch a $3 billion carbon-capture-and-sequestration affiliate that will be called ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions.

For a long time, Pluto was believed to be an airless, inert world.

The investigators chose not to use an inert saline solution for the control group because both vaccines can cause side effects such as achiness, fever and fatigue.

From Time

Surrounded by inert goods, we felt hemmed in, pushed toward a lifestyle cul-de-sac.

Instead of upending the genre as Joe Millionaire did, the inert Harry mostly shows how much things have changed since then.

Is the market an inert force to be manipulated and exploited, to deprive it of hard-earned cash?

(The choppy, inert 2000 TV movie with Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino and Paul Rudd barely registered a blip).

By doing so, we make the tax code more progressive, and mobilize capital that is otherwise inert.

Inside the Continental Exhibition Corporation one man was slumped over a desk, an automatic half-gripped in his inert hand.

Inert forms were being carried out of houses where chimneys or skylights had gone through the roof.

So inert, despondent, and lethargic a moment before, he now seemed full to overflowing of life and animation.

The next moment it wilted, rolled downward with outstretched arms, and collapsed upon the gravel, an inert mass.

Mrs Beazeley, the housekeeper, has become inert and querulous from rheumatism and the burden of added years.

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petrichor

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