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Inert   /ɪnˈərt/   Listen
adjective
Inert  adj.  
1.
Destitute of the power of moving itself, or of active resistance to motion; as, matter is inert.
2.
Indisposed to move or act; very slow to act; sluggish; dull; inactive; indolent; lifeless. "The inert and desponding party of the court." "It present becomes extravagant, then imbecile, and at length utterly inert."
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.
Synonyms: Inactive; dull; passive; indolent; sluggish; slothful; lazy; lifeless; irresolute; stupid; senseless; insensible. 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. "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." "Doomed to lose four months in inactive obscurity." "Sluggish Idleness, the nurse of sin, Upon a slothful ass he chose to ride."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Inert" Quotes from Famous Books



... up, then arose—for he slowly drew her—breathless, the color gone, much of the capable practicality that was hers completely eliminated. She felt limp, inert. She pulled at her hand faintly, and then, lifting her eyes, was fixed by that hard, insatiable gaze of his. Her head swam—her eyes were filled ...
— The Titan • Theodore Dreiser

... that the inventors have applied this radial arrangement practically, for it does not appear to be advantageous. The parts of conductors which are perpendicular to the radius, and which can be only inert (even if they do not become the seat of disadvantageous currents), have, in fact, too great an importance with respect to the radial parts.—A. ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 447, July 26, 1884 • Various

... in a shabby straw hat, was engaged in feeding the chickens before the threshold, and he performed even that occupation with a maundering lack-a-daisical slothfulness, dropping down the grains almost one by one from his inert dreamy fingers. ...
— The International Monthly Magazine, Volume 5, No. 1, January, 1852 • Various

... could be had of a dark aperture, something like the flue of a chimney, or the pipe of a cistern. Jean Valjean darted forward. His old art of escape rose to his brain like an illumination. To thrust aside the stones, to raise the grating, to lift Marius, who was as inert as a dead body, upon his shoulders, to descend, with this burden on his loins, and with the aid of his elbows and knees into that sort of well, fortunately not very deep, to let the heavy trap, upon which the loosened stones rolled down afresh, fall into its place behind him, to gain his footing ...
— Les Miserables - Complete in Five Volumes • Victor Hugo

... inert laziness and ignorance of the people is their own and their country's bane. They are all totally unaware of the treasures at their feet. This dreadful sloth is in part engendered by the excessive bounty of the land in its natural state; by the little ...
— What Led To The Discovery of the Source Of The Nile • John Hanning Speke


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