Inert \In*ert"\, a. [L. iners, inertis, unskilled, idle; pref.
in- + ars art: cf. F. inerte. See Art.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Destitute of the power of moving itself, or of active
resistance to motion; as, matter is inert.
[1913 Webster]
2. Indisposed to move or act; very slow to act; sluggish;
dull; inactive; indolent; lifeless.
[1913 Webster]
The inert and desponding party of the court.
--Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
It present becomes extravagant, then imbecile, and
at length utterly inert. --I. Taylor.
[1913 Webster]
3. Not having or manifesting active properties; not affecting
other substances when brought in contact with them;
powerless for an expected or desired effect; as, the noble
gases are chemically inert.
Syn: Inactive; dull; passive; indolent; sluggish; slothful;
lazy; lifeless; irresolute; stupid; senseless;
insensible.
Usage: Inert, Inactive, Sluggish. A man may be inactive
from mere lack of stimulus to effort; but one who is
inert has something in his constitution or his habits
which operates like a weight holding him back from
exertion. Sluggish is still stronger, implying some
defect of temperament which directly impedes action.
Inert and inactive are negative, sluggish is positive.
[1913 Webster]
Even the favored isles . . .
Can boast but little virtue; and, inert
Through plenty, lose in morals what they gain
In manners -- victims of luxurious ease.
--Cowper.
[1913 Webster]
Doomed to lose four months in inactive
obscurity. --Johnson.
[1913 Webster]
Sluggish Idleness, the nurse of sin,
Upon a slothful ass he chose to ride. --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
inert
adj 1: unable to move or resist motion
2: having only a limited ability to react chemically; not
active; "inert matter"; "an indifferent chemical in a
reaction" [syn: indifferent, neutral]
3: slow and apathetic; "she was fat and inert"; "a sluggish
worker"; "a mind grown torpid in old age" [syn: sluggish,
torpid]
WordNet (r) 2.0
144 Moby Thesaurus words for "inert":
abeyant, abiotic, apathetic, asleep, azoic, benumbed, blase, bored,
cataleptic, catatonic, changeless, constant, contemplative, dead,
debilitated, do-nothing, dopey, dormant, droopy, drugged, dull,
dumb, enervated, exanimate, flat, foul, groggy, heavy,
hebetudinous, idle, immobile, immutable, impassive, impotent,
in abeyance, in suspense, inactive, inanimate, inanimated,
incommutable, inconvertible, indefeasible, indolent, insensate,
insensible, insentient, insusceptible of change, intransmutable,
invariable, irretrievable, irreversible, irrevocable, jaded,
lackadaisical, laissez-aller, laissez-faire, languid, languorous,
lasting, latent, lazy, leaden, lethargic, lifeless, listless, logy,
lumpish, meditative, moribund, motionless, mute, neuter, neutral,
noble, nonconscious, nonliving, nonreturnable, nonreversible, numb,
otiose, paralytic, paralyzed, passive, permanent, phlegmatic,
pooped, powerless, procrastinating, quiescent, quiet, quietist,
quietistic, reverseless, sated, sedentary, senseless, slack,
sleeping, sleepy, slothful, slow, sluggish, slumbering, smoldering,
somnolent, soulless, stagnant, stagnating, standing, standpat,
static, stationary, still, stolid, stultified, supine, suspended,
tame, torpid, unalterable, unalterative, unaltered, unanimated,
unaroused, unchangeable, unchanged, unchanging, unconscious,
undeflectable, undeviating, unfeeling, unmodifiable, unremitting,
unresponsive, unrestorable, unreturnable, unsusceptible,
unvariable, unvarying, vegetable, vegetative, wan, weary,
world-weary
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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