Inactive
[ɪn'æktɪv]
Definition
(adj.) not active physically or mentally; 'illness forced him to live an inactive life'; 'dreamy and inactive by nature' .
(adj.) not engaged in full-time work; 'inactive reserve'; 'an inactive member' .
(adj.) lacking activity; lying idle or unused; 'an inactive mine'; 'inactive accounts'; 'inactive machinery' .
(adj.) (pathology) not progressing or increasing; or progressing slowly .
(adj.) not exerting influence or change .
(adj.) not in physical motion; 'the inertia of an object at rest' .
(adj.) (chemistry) not participating in a chemical reaction; chemically inert; 'desired amounts of inactive chlorine' .
Typist: Lottie--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Not active; having no power to move; that does not or can not produce results; inert; as, matter is, of itself, inactive.
(a.) Not disposed to action or effort; not diligent or industrious; not busy; idle; as, an inactive officer.
(a.) Not active; inert; esp., not exhibiting any action or activity on polarized light; 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.
Checker: Valerie
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. Inert, lazy, indolent, idle, slothful, supine, torpid, sluggish, dronish, lumpish, passive, Fabian.
Typist: Mag
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Idle, lazy, inert, indolent, sluggish, slothful
ANT:[See ACTIVE]
Typed by Claire
Definition
adj. having no power to move: idle: lazy: (chem.) not showing any action.—n. Inac′tion idleness: rest.—adv. Inact′ively.—n. Inactiv′ity idleness.
Inputed by Joe
Examples
- Reason is wholly inactive, and can never be the source of so active a principle as conscience, or a sense of morals. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- My impatience to reach the church was so great that I could not remain inactive in the cottage while the clerk lit the lantern again. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Wild yeast settles on the skin of grapes and apples, but since it does not have access to the fruit juices within, it remains inactive very much as a seed does before it is planted. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Not to stay here inactive, I am glad to say, but, of course, to walk over to the Hollow. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- During these eight years my life was uniform: but not unhappy, because it was not inactive. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Mrs. Reed's hands still lay on her work inactive: her eye of ice continued to dwell freezingly on mine. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- An entrance into the east end of the city was now secured, and the houses protected our troops so long as they were inactive. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- He was active and observing, I dreamy and inactive. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- The horror of remaining inactive all that time was more than I could face. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- As long as inactive the pencil made a straight line. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Racemic acid, however, which is identical with tartaric acid in i ts chemical constituents, is optically inactive, rotating the plane of polarized light n either to the right nor the left. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- When link C D is drawn up so that pin E is in the bottom of the slot, the eccentric A is active and B inactive, and as A has an opposite throw to B, the action of the valve is reversed. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
Inputed by Joe