inanimate

American  

[in-an-uh-mit] / ɪnˈæn ə mɪt /

adjective

1. not animate; lifeless.

   Synonyms:

   dead, inert, mineral, vegetable, inorganic

2. spiritless; sluggish; dull.

   Synonyms:

   torpid, dormant, inactive

3. Linguistics. belonging to a syntactic category or having a semantic feature that is characteristic of words denoting objects, concepts, and beings regarded as lacking perception and volition (animate ).

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inanimate British  

/ ɪnˌænɪˈmeɪʃən, ɪnˈænɪmɪt /

adjective

1. lacking the qualities or features of living beings; not animate

   inanimate objects

2. lacking any sign of life or consciousness; appearing dead

3. lacking vitality; spiritless; dull

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Other Word Forms

• inanimately adverb
• inanimateness noun
• inanimation noun

Etymology

Origin of inanimate

From the Late Latin word inanimātus, dating back to 1555–65. See in- ³, animate

Example Sentences

What to do with this inanimate object, whose newly visible rust spots Ms. Wilson began to equate with the cracks she had failed to discern in her marriage?

From The Wall Street Journal

He amassed around 3,000 inanimate objects, which he started collecting after his father’s death.

From The Wall Street Journal

That’s to say, where rivers are recognised as alive, enlivening presences in story, art and law, rather than –– as Isaac Newton put it –– ‘brute inanimate matter’.

From Salon

Driven or driverless, the car is the most animated of inanimate objects, sometimes literally a cartoon, with a voice, a personality, a name.

From Los Angeles Times

The power of the waltz here is how it humanizes the space station as it’s about to be taken over by an inanimate AI, namely the computer called HAL.

From Los Angeles Times