How to Use inaction in a Sentence

inaction

noun
  • We must consider the consequences of continued inaction.
  • The protesters criticized the administration's inaction on environmental issues.
  • The cost of inaction will be far greater in the long-term.
    — Gordon G. Chang, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Apr. 2025
  • What is not clear to me is what the cost of inaction is.
    — Rob Reddick, WIRED, 30 Oct. 2023
  • The time to act is now – before the cost of inaction becomes too great to bear.
    — Matthew Emma, USA TODAY, 28 Nov. 2024
  • If the stakes of the 2024 election are as great as the party says, there’s no excuse for inaction.
    — Bryan Walsh, Vox, 1 July 2024
  • Be part of the problem through inaction or part of the solution through change.
    — Erin Hill, Peoplemag, 10 Jan. 2023
  • And all the while, people inside are bearing the cost of inaction.
    — Alleen Brown, The New Republic, 1 July 2023
  • On the one hand, the harm of inaction is real and growing every year.
    — Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, 5 Apr. 2022
  • The rebellion was, in large part, the product of Putin’s inaction.
    — Tatiana Stanovaya, Foreign Affairs, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Question whether the risk of inaction is greater than the risk of moving forward.
    — Margie Warrell, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2025
  • But as the death count in city jails rose to 14 this year, the board’s inaction was conspicuous.
    — New York Times, 8 Nov. 2021
  • But for many, the only course of action at the present moment is inaction.
    — Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 6 May 2025
  • Still, experts maintain that the cost of inaction would be too high.
    — New York Times, 27 Apr. 2021
  • Women's-rights groups disparaged the court for the inaction that allowed the statute to take effect.
    — Compiled Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 3 Sep. 2021
  • But what has gone unnoticed is the fact that the courts also pay the price for Congress’ inaction.
    — Michael Bobelian, Forbes, 25 Jan. 2022
  • But one thing that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle seem to agree on is that inaction is not an option.
    — Farnoush Amiri and Lisa Mascaro, Anchorage Daily News, 8 June 2022
  • But one thing that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle seem to agree on is that inaction is not an option.
    — Lisa Mascaro, BostonGlobe.com, 7 June 2022
  • The cost of inaction is much greater than that of overreaction.
    — Dev Patnaik, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2023
  • Both teams stopped play at the six-minute mark of Saturday’s game to reflect and protest league inaction.
    — Julia Poe, orlandosentinel.com, 12 Oct. 2021
  • The Reagan airport tragedy last winter showed us the cost of inaction.
    — Kevin Sabet, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 May 2025
  • What’s more, 81% believe the inaction will lead to higher costs.
    — Paul Bedard, The Washington Examiner, 22 Apr. 2025
  • The unknown will always feel risky, but the bigger risk is inaction.
    — Margie Warrell, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2025
  • Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., laid out the stakes of inaction at the beginning of the hearing.
    — Lauren Peller, ABC News, 13 May 2025
  • Gaia sends him to a de-Wheelerized 2026 to show him the consequences of inaction.
    — Darren Franich, EW.com, 22 Apr. 2021
  • The novel won wide praise for creatively taking on the issue of climate change and our inaction in the face of it.
    — Martin Wolk, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2022
  • During years of inaction through the painful rebuild, the most insignificant of moves were all there was.
    — Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 14 Feb. 2024
  • Through inaction in Congress and less action than in the past from the courts, what's happening in states -- both blue and red -- is likely to stand.
    — Rick Klein, ABC News, 9 Feb. 2022
  • Scene by scene, Linda becomes more and more aware of the consequences of her inaction.
    — Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2022
  • But when her actions and inactions are not aligned with mine, or, in my view, supportive of me as a Blak person.
    — Bizzi Lavelle, refinery29.com, 22 June 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'inaction.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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