1
as in dormant
not being in a state of use, activity, or employment
the inert, abandoned factories that are scattered all over that dying city
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sleepy
slow to move or act
a sleepy, inert reptile that is no threat to people when left alone
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of inert
Lassere and Ross-Lonergan, along with thousands of others, have devoted their careers to investigating this tiny and almost perfectly inert speck.
—
Quanta Magazine, 8 Apr. 2026
That’s because the moon is much more geologically inert than our rowdy planet.
—Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 8 Apr. 2026
The state investigator also requested the X-ray tests that deputies had used to wrongly determine that the two grenades were inert, according to the complaint.
—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2026
But a nation of 90 million people, with Iran’s geographic position, its institutional memory, its capacity for patience, and a leadership that will have studied every lesson this war has to teach, does not become inert because it has been struck hard.
—Bobby Ghosh, Time, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for inert
Quanta Magazine, 8 Apr. 2026
That’s because the moon is much more geologically inert than our rowdy planet.
—Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 8 Apr. 2026
The state investigator also requested the X-ray tests that deputies had used to wrongly determine that the two grenades were inert, according to the complaint.
—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2026
But a nation of 90 million people, with Iran’s geographic position, its institutional memory, its capacity for patience, and a leadership that will have studied every lesson this war has to teach, does not become inert because it has been struck hard.
—Bobby Ghosh, Time, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for inert
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inert
Adjective
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The area also contains over 900 active or dormant volcanoes, which is about two-thirds of the world’s total.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
20 Apr. 2026
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Avoid fertilizing late in the year, as the foliage will be killed back by frost and the plant will be going dormant.—
Andy Wilcox,
Better Homes & Gardens,
20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The once-sleepy CPU market has taken off as agentic workloads shift compute needs beyond Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) that have ruled AI thus far.—
Katie Tarasov,
CNBC,
23 Apr. 2026
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One year after Naqvi’s arrest at Heathrow, a media exposé into the working practices at a branch of the Nairobi Women’s Hospital in Nakuru, a sleepy town three hours’ drive from the Kenyan capital, gave a sense of the pressures staff were under during the final months of Abraaj’s ownership.—
Hettie O'Brien,
The Dial,
21 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The film will be produced by Amy Pascal and Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Aditya Sood through Lord Miller’s first‑look deal with Universal Pictures — fresh off success with their Amazon MGM sci-fi pic Project Hail Mary, which has grossed over $147M worldwide at time of reporting.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
23 Apr. 2026
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His off-camera thoughts were revealed when internal communications between Fox staffers went public in 2023 due to Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News for knowingly broadcasting false claims that its machines rigged the 2020 election.—
Lorraine Ali,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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This product is the one to reach for when your skin looks dull or tired.—
Jeaneen Russell,
PEOPLE,
23 Apr. 2026
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Never a dull day in Frisco with the Dallas Cowboys.—
Nick Harris,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The lobby and tenant amenity areas were upgraded in 2019, according to real estate tracker CoStar, which lists the property as more than half vacant.—
Jennifer Van Grove,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Apr. 2026
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The vacant structure had been damaged by a fire once already when it was set ablaze a second time, damaging the property next door, said Jackson, president of the South End Neighborhood Association.—
Joseph Flaherty,
Arkansas Online,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Sitting Too Much Living a mostly inactive lifestyle is linked to chronic inflammation.—
Lindsay Curtis,
Verywell Health,
17 Apr. 2026
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Conversely, people who were relatively inactive also benefited from adding just a little bit of higher-intensity exercise to their daily routines.—
Katia Hetter,
CNN Money,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Flying into Singapore over the weekend gave me a front row seat to the literal sea of cargo ships sitting idle in the Port of Singapore.—
Leonie Kidd,
CNBC,
20 Apr. 2026
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There’s also The Italian Restaurant located within the 6,100-square-foot entertainment complex that serves classic Italian comfort dishes (during idle times while dining, kids can feel free to jaunt toward the arcade for a round of air hockey before the plate of rigatoni is served).—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
17 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Local Democratic politicians were strangely quiescent, despite a pre–Catahoula Crunch poll showing that nearly 80 percent of New Orleans residents opposed the deployment.—
Daniel Brook,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
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But the astronomers suspect this kind of bursty young galaxy in the early universe may someday evolve into what's known as a massive quiescent galaxy in the modern-day cosmos.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
21 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Inert.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inert. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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