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
Reusable drones allow operators to train on the actual platform, replacing live warheads with inert payloads.
—
Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025
To demand that every new formulation be tested against an inert placebo would mean turning back the clock to reproduce trials that may have taken place decades ago, but resulted in the licensing of the original vaccine after safety and efficacy were established.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2025
This ethos has also influenced how Nkanga thinks of sculpture itself—not as an inert entity, but something that lives both physically and conceptually.
—Okla Jones, Essence, 3 May 2025
This capability not only allows for possibly identifying microbes among inert matter, as Nadeau and her colleagues proposed in that 2017 paper, but also enables tracking cellular changes that might not be apparent from flat, 2D imaging.
—John Loeffler, Space.com, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inert
Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025
To demand that every new formulation be tested against an inert placebo would mean turning back the clock to reproduce trials that may have taken place decades ago, but resulted in the licensing of the original vaccine after safety and efficacy were established.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2025
This ethos has also influenced how Nkanga thinks of sculpture itself—not as an inert entity, but something that lives both physically and conceptually.
—Okla Jones, Essence, 3 May 2025
This capability not only allows for possibly identifying microbes among inert matter, as Nadeau and her colleagues proposed in that 2017 paper, but also enables tracking cellular changes that might not be apparent from flat, 2D imaging.
—John Loeffler, Space.com, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inert
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inert
Adjective
-
The cause of the blaze has not been determined, but the company has acknowledged that it may have been sparked by a faulty dormant power line operated by Edison.—
Caroline Petrow-Cohen,
Los Angeles Times,
22 May 2025
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Perhaps the Flyers believe that a certain segment of the fan base that’s been dormant through what has been a mostly incompetent decade will awaken with the return of one of the organization’s most popular all-time players now running the day-to-day operations at ice level.—
Kevin Kurz,
New York Times,
21 May 2025
Adjective
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When Tommy leaves to bring his sleepy son home, Maria revisits her and Joel’s conversation about refugees.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
18 May 2025
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Photos of my kid's birthday parties are no longer me with bleary, sleepy drinking eyes.—
Megan Cartwright,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 May 2025
Adjective
-
But the Lions scored three times in the top of the third off USD starter Cal Scolari.—
Bill Center,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 May 2025
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As the Cubs, winners in seven of their last nine, head into an off day Thursday, here are three takeaways from their second straight series victory.—
Meghan Montemurro,
Chicago Tribune,
21 May 2025
Adjective
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There’s an effort from the developer, Far Out Games, to tell a captivating noirish story here but the cutscenes and dialogue are painfully dull.—
Joshua Lamb,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2025
-
The bristles of the brush manually sweep away dull, rough, flaky skin cells.—
Angela Palmer,
Verywell Health,
20 May 2025
Adjective
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Fast forward: After three years, the site remains vacant, fenced and undeveloped.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
14 May 2025
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Inside the one-story cinder block building, three state health officials sat along a table at the front of the largely vacant room.—
Margaret Coker,
ProPublica,
14 May 2025
Adjective
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While the TikTok account had been inactive for months, the last posts on the other accounts directly preceded Tinney’s death.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
20 May 2025
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The one interesting thing to watch is how well the four teams who got first-round byes perform after being inactive for more than a week.—
Eric Sondheimer,
Los Angeles Times,
19 May 2025
Adjective
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By adjusting power consumption dynamically, the tool could help reduce unnecessary background activity and extend battery life—especially during idle periods or when apps are not in active use.—
Tahar Rajab,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 May 2025
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That's no idle pledge calculated to preserve market share — Keen has been steadily retooling the business for years to protect itself from sudden shifts in global trade and the vagaries of geopolitics.—
Megan Cerullo,
CBS News,
9 May 2025
Adjective
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Just an hour south of the gaseous maelstrom otherwise known as the City of Angels lurks a quiescent hideaway called Terranea Resort, set like a rare gemstone on 102 acres of Palos Verdes Peninsula oceanfront.—
David Weiss,
Forbes.com,
29 Apr. 2025
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Russia, for its part, went from being both weak and quiescent in the early 1990s to being a revanchist power, a spoiler with enough capability and cunning to be disruptive.—
Fareed Zakaria,
Foreign Affairs,
11 June 2019
Cite this Entry
“Inert.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inert. Accessed 29 May. 2025.
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