inertia

[in-ur-shuh, ih-nur-]

noun

1. inertness, especially with regard to effort, motion, action, and the like; inactivity; sluggishness.

   Synonyms: laziness, inaction, torpor

2. Physics.

   1. the property of matter by which it retains its state of rest or its velocity along a straight line so long as it is not acted upon by an external force.

   2. an analogous property of a force.

      electric inertia.

3. Medicine/Medical.,  lack of activity, especially as applied to a uterus during childbirth when its contractions have decreased or stopped.

inertia

/ ɪnˈɜːʃə, -ʃɪə /

noun

1. the state of being inert; disinclination to move or act

2. physics

   1. the tendency of a body to preserve its state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force

   2. an analogous property of other physical quantities that resist change

      thermal inertia

inertia

1. The resistance of a body to changes in its momentum. Because of inertia, a body at rest remains at rest, and a body in motion continues moving in a straight line and at a constant speed, unless a force is applied to it. Mass can be considered a measure of a body's inertia.

2. See more at Newton's laws of motion See also mass

inertia

1. In physics, the tendency for objects at rest to remain at rest, and for objects in uniform motion to continue in motion in a straight line, unless acted on by an outside force. (See Newton's laws of motion.)

Other Word Forms

• inertial adjective
• noninertial adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of inertia¹

First recorded in 1705–15; from Latin: “lack of skill, slothfulness”; inert, -ia

Example Sentences

As the same scenes at the fair are repeated, if gradually expanded, inertia sets in, despite all the to-ing and fro-ing in time.

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Dogged management will also be essential to break bureaucratic inertia and turf wars among the services.

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Wasserman called the skyway remodel a “zombie project,” left over from a paused terminal expansion that included plans for two new concourses, “still moving forward on its own inertia.”

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Visually epic, sonically relentless and otherwise fatuous, the film has a dramatic inertia occasionally punctuated by eruptions of utter catastrophe—a series of shocks that leaves you singed, shaken and not much better for it.

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History is full of ambitious international agreements that collapse under self-interest, misaligned incentives or inertia.

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Related Words

• apathy 
• laziness 
• paralysis 
• passivity 
• sluggishness www.thesaurus.com