inactive
Americanadjective
-
not active.
an inactive volcano.
- Synonyms:
- inoperative, immobile, unmoving
- Antonyms:
- lively
-
sedentary or passive.
an inactive life.
- Antonyms:
- lively
-
sluggish; indolent.
- Antonyms:
- lively
-
Military. not on active duty.
-
Chemistry.
-
inert; unreactive.
-
noting a compound that has no effect on polarized light.
-
adjective
-
idle or inert; not active
-
sluggish, passive, or indolent
-
military of or relating to persons or equipment not in active service
-
chem (of a substance) having little or no reactivity
-
(of an element, isotope, etc) having little or no radioactivity
Related Words
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.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inactive
Explanation
When things or people are inactive, they're doing little or nothing. A rock, a couch potato, or a gym membership you haven’t used yet is inactive. Active has been used since the 14th century to mean "given to worldly activity." If you’re active, you’re out in the world! Therefore inactive people aren’t doing much. Maybe they’re just taking a break — if a player is inactive for a basketball game, she's sitting on the bench. In physics, an inactive object is motionless. If a club is inactive, it hasn't met for awhile. When things are inactive, there's not much going on.
Vocabulary lists containing inactive
Physical Education - Introductory
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Just Do It: Act
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Physical Education - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
More than half of those were deemed to be economically inactive as they were not looking for work.
From BBC • May 23, 2026
Becerra, with his extensive legal and political background spanning decades, bears responsibility for exercising greater scrutiny regarding why managing a largely inactive account commanded significantly higher fees than standard professional rates.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026
It contains millions of "silent synapses," which are immature connections between neurons that remain inactive until they are needed to help form new memories.
From Science Daily • May 6, 2026
More than a year earlier, he had completed his second arduous journey to the foothills of the inactive volcano of Chimborazo, in Ecuador, to make preparatory drawings and oil sketches for this roughly 10-foot-wide work.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
Executive Committee believed that the Indian Congress had become inactive of late.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
