inoperative

1 not being in a state of use, activity, or employment be careful when putting your hands in even an inoperative garbage disposal Synonyms of inoperative dead, dormant, fallow, free, idle, inert, inactive, latent, off, unused, vacantWords Related to inoperative abeyant, arrested, interrupted, suspended; unoccupied; asleep, comatose, lifeless, moribund, quiescent, sleepy; inoperable, unusable, unworkable, useless; dull, slowNear Antonyms of inoperative functional, operable, operational, workable; assiduous, industrious, sedulous; energetic, vigorous; feasible, practical, usable (also useable), useful, viableAntonyms of inoperative active, alive, busy, employed, functioning, going, living, on, operating, operative, running, working

2 not being in working order looking for an expert to fix the inoperative grandfather clock Synonyms of inoperative down, inoperable, kaput (also kaputt), malfunctioning, nonfunctional, nonfunctioning, nonoperatingWords Related to inoperative broken; off; deactivated, deadlocked, ineffective, ineffectual, nonproductive, unproductive, unusable, unworkable, uselessNear Antonyms of inoperative effective, effectual, employable, performing, producing, productive, serving, usable (also useable), useful, viable, workableAntonyms of inoperative functional, functioning, operable, operant, operating, operational, operative, running, working

3 having no legal or binding force the decision of the state's supreme court has rendered the law inoperative Synonyms of inoperative bad, null, invalid, nonbinding, nonvalid, nugatory, null and void, voidWords Related to inoperative illegal; useless, worthless; ineffective, ineffectualNear Antonyms of inoperative legal; workingAntonyms of inoperative binding, good, valid