Synonym Chooser

How is the word inert different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of inert are idle, inactive, passive, and supine. While all these words mean "not engaged in work or activity," inert as applied to things implies powerlessness to move or to affect other things; as applied to persons it suggests an inherent or habitual indisposition to activity.

inert ingredients in drugs
an inert citizenry

When would idle be a good substitute for inert?

The words idle and inert can be used in similar contexts, but idle applies to persons that are not busy or occupied or to their powers or their implements.

workers were idle in the fields

In what contexts can inactive take the place of inert?

While in some cases nearly identical to inert, inactive applies to anyone or anything not in action or in operation or at work.

on inactive status as an astronaut
inactive accounts

When can passive be used instead of inert?

The words passive and inert are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, passive implies immobility or lack of normally expected response to an external force or influence and often suggests deliberate submissiveness or self-control.

passive resistance

When could supine be used to replace inert?

While the synonyms supine and inert are close in meaning, supine applies only to persons and commonly implies abjectness or indolence.

a supine willingness to play the fool

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of inert An active comparator might also be used rather than an inert placebo because of ethics. Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 5 June 2025 The Trump administration has also said new Covid vaccines must undergo clinical trials with an inert placebo — meaning some participants would receive the new vaccine while others would receive an inactive substance like saline, to compare results. Aria Bendix, NBC news, 1 June 2025 Pure gold is inert in Earth’s mantle and tends to stay there. David Bressan, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025 Mercury, Mars and the moon appear essentially inert. Elise Cutts, Scientific American, 13 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for inert
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inert
Adjective
  • Waititi never recommitted to Akira and the project has been dormant ever since.
    Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 27 June 2025
  • The group is currently dormant after Argent suffered a stroke last year that forced him to retire from touring, while White and Grundy have appeared only as special guests since 1997.
    Gary Graff, Billboard, 24 June 2025
Adjective
  • The final picture is a solo shot of Ocean Rain, sleepy and sweetly tucked into a coral blanket embroidered with her name.
    Clea Haran, Parents, 23 June 2025
  • By the end of that summer, the sleepy months had become prime box-office real estate.
    Mark Hughes, Forbes.com, 21 June 2025
Adjective
  • Entering play Thursday, an off day for the Yankees, the reigning American League MVP had the highest average (.361), OPS (1.180), fWAR (6.1) and wRC+ (221) in baseball.
    Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 26 June 2025
  • His hope is two off days — Wednesday’s game and the team’s off-day on Thursday — will put him in position to return to the lineup on Friday in Cincinnati.
    Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 June 2025
Adjective
  • And what often emerges instead is a dull kind of numbness, chronic irritability or total withdrawal.
    Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025
  • Get rid of dull and dirty razor heads (which should no longer be used) and pair your bathing supplies down to only the items that are used on a weekly basis.
    Abigail Wilt, Southern Living, 20 June 2025
Adjective
  • Earlier this month, Udoka was the subject of interest from the New York Knicks for their vacant head coaching position, one that the Rockets vehemently shut down.
    Kelly Iko, New York Times, 19 June 2025
  • In 1870, Mississippi legislators voted 81 to 15 to elect Revels to the Senate to finish the term of one of the state’s two U.S Senate seats, which had been left vacant since the Civil War.
    Bea L. Hines, Miami Herald, 19 June 2025
Adjective
  • The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed the site was inactive and contained no nuclear material, but Israel said the strike was aimed at preventing future weapons development.
    Amanda Castro Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 June 2025
  • The state Supreme Court still must approve Spolin’s disbarment, but his license will be inactive in the meantime, barring him from working as a lawyer.
    Harriet Ryan, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2025
Adjective
  • These are just 11-on-11 stats compiled by SNY's Connor Hughes, but this says Jaxson Dart isn't coming to work to accept a backup position and sit idle for a year.
    Geoffrey Knox, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 June 2025
  • For companies with aspirations to list in the next 12 to 24 months, the current limbo is not a time to sit idle.
    Rene Musech, Forbes.com, 18 June 2025
Adjective
  • But just because a stock has been quiescent for a while is no reason to disdain it.
    John Dorfman, Forbes.com, 19 May 2025
  • In the early 2000s, the U.S. invasion of Iraq united Iraqi Kurds in a quest to preserve their autonomy, and the rivalry in greater Kurdistan eclipsed the quiescent Kurdish rivalry within Iraq.
    Behnam Ben Taleblu, Foreign Affairs, 8 Nov. 2017

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Cite this Entry

“Inert.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inert. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on inert

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