Inactive \In*ac"tive\, a. [Pref. in- not + active: cf. F.
inactif.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Not active; having no power to move; that does not or can
not produce results; inert; as, matter is, of itself,
inactive.
[1913 Webster]
2. Not disposed to action or effort; not diligent or
industrious; not busy; idle; as, an inactive officer.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Chem. & Opt.) Not exhibiting any action or activity on
polarized light; optically inactive; optically neutral;
-- said of isomeric forms of certain substances, in
distinction from other forms which are optically active;
as, racemic acid is an inactive tartaric acid.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Chem. & Biochem.) Lacking biological or biochemical
activity; not causing a specific biological or biochemical
effect; -- said of substances such as enzymes which have
lost their catalytic power, or of small molecules which
are tested for some type of biological activity and found
to lack that activity; as, after boiling for ten minutes,
the enzyme was totally inactive; the methyl analog was
inactive as an antibiotic.
[PJC]
Syn: Inert; dull; sluggish; idle; indolent; slothful; lazy.
See Inert.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
inactive
adj 1: not participating in a chemical reaction; "desired amounts
of inactive chlorine"
2: not progressing or increasing; or progressing slowly [ant: active]
3: not active or exerting influence [ant: active]
4: of e.g. volcanos; permanently inactive; "an extinct volcano"
[syn: extinct] [ant: active, dormant]
5: of e.g. volcanos; temporarily inactive; "a dormant volcano"
[syn: dormant] [ant: extinct, active]
6: lacking in energy or will; "Much benevolence of the passive
order may be traced to a disinclination to inflict pain
upon oneself"- George Meredith [syn: passive] [ant: active]
7: lacking activity; lying idle or unused; "an inactive mine";
"inactive accounts"; "inactive machinery" [ant: active]
8: not engaged in full-time work; "inactive reserve" ; "an
inactive member of the department" [ant: active]
9: not active physically or mentally; "illness forced him to
live an inactive life"; "dreamy and inactive by nature"
[ant: active]
10: not engaged in military action [syn: reserve(a)]
11: not in physical motion; "the inertia of an object at rest"
[syn: motionless, static, still]
12: temporarily inactive [syn: abeyant, in abeyance(p), suspended]
WordNet (r) 2.0
94 Moby Thesaurus words for "inactive":
abeyant, apathetic, asleep, at a standstill, cataleptic, catatonic,
contemplative, dead, deliberate, disengaged, do-nothing, dopey,
dormant, dull, easy, flat, foul, groggy, hasteless, heavy, idle,
immobile, in abeyance, in suspense, inanimate, indolent, inert,
inoperative, jobless, lackadaisical, laissez-aller, laissez-faire,
languid, languorous, latent, lazy, leaden, leisurely, lethargic,
lifeless, listless, logy, meditative, motionless, neuter, neutral,
ossified, out of work, pacific, paralytic, paralyzed, passive,
peaceful, phlegmatic, placid, procrastinating, quiescent, quiet,
quietist, quietistic, relaxed, resting, sedentary, serene, slack,
sleeping, sleepy, slothful, slow, sluggish, slumbering, smoldering,
somnolent, stagnant, stagnating, standing, standpat, static,
stationary, still, supine, suspended, tame, torpid, tranquil,
unactive, unaroused, unemployed, unhasty, unhurried, unmoving,
unoccupied, vegetable, vegetative
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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