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

The physics of greenhouse gases, the inertia of our energy systems and the pace of policy change all point to a relatively predictable climate trajectory.

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Defaults work because they harness people’s inertia, procrastination and tendency to stick with the path of least resistance, instead of requiring them to make active and often complex decisions.

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I’ve come to think that inertia is among the most pernicious forces that can work on a society or an individual.

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Jobless inertia and financial strife breed a cruelty that isn’t dissimilar from the cold strike of an employer maintaining their bottom line, cutting 100 workers with the same callousness that they’d cut 1,000.

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That inertia can lock in not only the technology but also the expanded scope of surveillance it enables.

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Related Words

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