1
as in inertia
lack of action or activity
the inactivity outside the school led me to think that it must have been vacation week
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 inactivity
Rising physical inactivity, especially among young people, is colliding with escalating climate and nature risks.
—
Sebastian Buckup, Time, 7 Feb. 2026
What struck me in the wake of the trade deadline and the Heat’s inactivity is that so few of the trade-deadline report cards even mentioned the Heat.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 6 Feb. 2026
Indeed, news of the Spurs’ inactivity at the trade deadline was met with relief in throughout team’s locker room after Thursday’s 135-123 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center.
—Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 6 Feb. 2026
That correlation can help align pacemaker activity with phone movement or inactivity.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 4 Feb. 2026
The state has a low physical inactivity rate of just over 22%, the 13th-lowest in the nation.
—Angela Palermo
february 3, Idaho Statesman, 3 Feb. 2026
Unlike other hibernating animals such as bears, groundhogs do not enter a light-sleep state characterized by inactivity.
—Kate Perez, USA Today, 1 Feb. 2026
That means the former voters died, moved away, registered in another state, were convicted of a felony crime, deemed incompetent to vote by a judge or were removed from the state's voter rolls because of inactivity.
—Molly Beck, jsonline.com, 30 Jan. 2026
Back pain is often worsened by weakness, poor posture and inactivity.
—Fred Sassani, Austin American Statesman, 29 Jan. 2026
Sebastian Buckup, Time, 7 Feb. 2026
What struck me in the wake of the trade deadline and the Heat’s inactivity is that so few of the trade-deadline report cards even mentioned the Heat.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 6 Feb. 2026
Indeed, news of the Spurs’ inactivity at the trade deadline was met with relief in throughout team’s locker room after Thursday’s 135-123 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center.
—Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 6 Feb. 2026
That correlation can help align pacemaker activity with phone movement or inactivity.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 4 Feb. 2026
The state has a low physical inactivity rate of just over 22%, the 13th-lowest in the nation.
—Angela Palermo
february 3, Idaho Statesman, 3 Feb. 2026
Unlike other hibernating animals such as bears, groundhogs do not enter a light-sleep state characterized by inactivity.
—Kate Perez, USA Today, 1 Feb. 2026
That means the former voters died, moved away, registered in another state, were convicted of a felony crime, deemed incompetent to vote by a judge or were removed from the state's voter rolls because of inactivity.
—Molly Beck, jsonline.com, 30 Jan. 2026
Back pain is often worsened by weakness, poor posture and inactivity.
—Fred Sassani, Austin American Statesman, 29 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inactivity
Noun
-
Over that first act, however, the film also resists much narrative or thematic momentum, unfolding in glimpses and vignettes meant to underscore inertia and to emphasize production design.—
Ben Croll,
IndieWire,
13 Feb. 2026
-
By inertia, some vestiges remain of the awful weeks in 2022 when enemy forces stood at the edge of Kyiv.—
Simon Shuster,
The Atlantic,
12 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
State child welfare workers declined to open investigations into abuse or neglect in these instances, yet referred them to law enforcement anyway.—
Shoshana Walter,
CBS News,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Several cool props gestured to historical infrastructural neglect and botched Hurricane Maria recovery efforts.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
At a time when Florida’s educator retention problem is harming students statewide, inaction is a choice that maintains a failing status quo.—
Andrew Spar,
The Orlando Sentinel,
3 Feb. 2026
-
But supporters of the bill, that passed committee on a party-line vote, say the cost of inaction is far greater.—
Shaun Boyd,
CBS News,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
And does a particular level of disuse have to be reached for a word to be dropped into the lexical dustbin?—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
22 Dec. 2025
-
The term fell largely into disuse with the Axis powers’ defeat in 1945.—
Andrew Latham,
The Conversation,
8 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
DeJean, who recorded the game-changing pick-six in Super Bowl LIX, couldn’t comprehend postseason idleness.—
Brooks Kubena,
New York Times,
12 Jan. 2026
-
This patience is watchfulness, not idleness.—
Francois Botha,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Some 64 years later, the development is officially coming down, following years of decay, neglect and abandonment.—
Eric Adler,
Kansas City Star,
4 Feb. 2026
-
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the legislature should act on the report’s recommendations with actions to strengthen reporting, enforce existing laws, prevent further abandonment of wells and ensure polluters pay for cleanup.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Inactivity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inactivity. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
