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 Charalambous says these collisions likely took place during the first 100 million years of Mars’ existence, and are a testament to how inert the planet is today. Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 28 Aug. 2025 The study also highlights that lipid droplets – once thought to be inert fat stores – are in fact active organelles that manage how fat is stored and used in cells. New Atlas, 28 Aug. 2025 Yet there’s something strangely inert about Jay Kelly. Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 28 Aug. 2025 In these tales, CO2 often seems less like a mute, inert molecule and more like an evil supervillain—a malevolent force that has been plotting for centuries to wreak havoc on our planet and ruin our lives. Lee Billings, Scientific American, 21 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for inert
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inert
Adjective
  • The antibiotic became effective when dormant cells were given sugar (a food source), but only after a 15-minute delay.
    Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 29 Sep. 2025
  • There are also showings on 70mm, Imax 70mm and even four venues projecting in the long-dormant format VistaVision, which Anderson shot the film on.
    J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 27 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Unlike Bacalar, which is relatively new to tourism, Tulum has been transformed from a sleepy backwater into a pumping party town.
    Simon Willis, Travel + Leisure, 5 Oct. 2025
  • Most days are quiet in Armenia’s sleepy southern province of Syunik.
    Michele Crestani, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The first signs that 2025 wouldn’t live up to Ferrari’s off-season hopes emerged in testing, when McLaren teased its advantage.
    Luke Smith, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Perhaps not, and that was attributable to some of his off-field pursuits, as sports journalist Devin Gordon explains in one episode.
    Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The track opens with a provocative guitar riff, setting the stage for a fierce jungle hunt rather than a dull cat-and-mouse game.
    Billboard China, Billboard, 1 Oct. 2025
  • So much noise, apparently, that Yankees management is pressuring Ticketmaster to keep Sox fans down to a dull roar.
    Steve Buckley, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Ahead of this school year, MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius moved some central office staff to classroom teaching positions to fill vacant roles.
    Kayla Huynh, jsonline.com, 6 Oct. 2025
  • After moving to the area with his family in 2022, proprietor Andrew Pearson saw an opportunity to bring a fine dining experience to a vacant restaurant space on Main Street.
    Brennan Long, Southern Living, 4 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • This process adds weight and volume from inactive components.
    Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 5 Oct. 2025
  • McDaniel said running back Jaylen Wright was inactive because Miami needed extra bodies on defense and special teams.
    Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The store’s lease runs for several more years and city officials do not want the building to sit idle.
    Steven Rosenfeld, Mercury News, 24 Sep. 2025
  • Part of a software update, advertisements will appear on certain refrigerator cover screens when the Family Hub fridge is idle.
    Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Throughout most of modern history, it was thought that prudent government debt management involved bringing down the ratio of debt to GDP during quiescent periods of growth in order to store fiscal ammunition for the next crisis.
    Kenneth S. Rogoff, Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2025
  • Khanna is one of a number of progressive congressional Democrats encouraged by the party to appear in red-district town halls in an attempt to rebut impressions that the party is quiescent in the face of Trump’s onslaught.
    Andrew Cockburn, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Inert.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inert. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on inert

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