sedentary

[sed-n-ter-ee]

adjective

1. characterized by or requiring a sitting posture.

   a sedentary occupation.

2. accustomed to sit or rest a great deal or to take little exercise.

3. Chiefly Zoology.

   1. abiding in one place; not migratory.

   2. pertaining to animals that move about little or are permanently attached to something, as a barnacle.

sedentary

/ ˈsɛdəntərɪ, -trɪ /

adjective

1. characterized by or requiring a sitting position

   sedentary work

2. tending to sit about without taking much exercise

3. (of animals) moving about very little, usually because of attachment to a rock or other surface

4. (of animals) not migratory

Other Word Forms

• sedentarily adverb
• sedentariness noun
• nonsedentarily adverb
• nonsedentariness noun
• nonsedentary adjective
• presedentary adjective
• unsedentary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sedentary¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin sedentārius “sitting,” equivalent to sedent- (stem of sedēns, present participle of sedēre “to sit ¹ ”; -ent ) + -ārius -ary

Word History and Origins

Origin of sedentary¹

C16: from Latin sedentārius, from sedēre to sit

Example Sentences

It was an older group, ages 40 to 79, with an average of 62, and fairly sedentary, taking a median of 5,165 steps a day.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Workers in their 50s with physical injuries are thus receiving disability benefits “when they don’t need to be,” given that they could get a more sedentary job in the modern economy.

Read more on Salon

For starters, older bodies — especially after years of a sedentary lifestyle — are more susceptible to injuries.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Given increases in the average human lifespan, the existing age cutoffs that presume a 50-year-old who can perform only sedentary work is disabled while a 49-year-old is not represent loose standards that need modernization.

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Out of 175 metabolites analyzed in sedentary rats, 100 were significantly affected.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• inactive