Inert

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  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}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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