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
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
Originally supposed to fly Sierra Space Dream Chaser test flight, but payload switched to an inert mass simulator because of potential Dream Chaser delays beyond October launch date.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inert
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
Originally supposed to fly Sierra Space Dream Chaser test flight, but payload switched to an inert mass simulator because of potential Dream Chaser delays beyond October launch date.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inert
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inert
Adjective
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Often when faced with a trauma, a redwood will swell a bank of dormant buds and woody tissue to create burls.—
Greg Sullivan,
AFAR Media,
15 Sep. 2025
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Note that plants go dormant in areas that experience hard freezes.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Except that four years later, on The Hills, Lauren Conrad passed it up for a guy with frosted tips and sleepy vibes.—
Megan Angelo,
Glamour,
11 Sep. 2025
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New York — Oracle, a large but generally sleepy cloud-computing company, just had an absolutely bonkers day on Wall Street.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Though his request to play in Napa was denied, his off-course involvement is already proving to be a unifying force.—
Devlina Sarkar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
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However, he was involved in an off-field accident that forced the Royals to shift their pitching plans.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Early on, the dull chamber music of the Ferrari 296’s wide-angle V6 gas-electric hybrid powertrain was roundly criticized.—
Mark Ewing,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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Rather than efficiently dicing and slicing your produce, a dull knife actually requires more force, which can cause you or someone else in your household to get hurt.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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In September 2022, schoolteacher Eliza Fletcher was kidnapped during an early morning run, and her body was later found near a vacant duplex.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
13 Sep. 2025
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Each apartment was different from the next, and the vacant unit (one daughter retreated to a Greek island) had views of the sea.—
Keith Flanagan,
Architectural Digest,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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If the account looks suspicious, inactive, or brand-new, avoid it.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
12 Sep. 2025
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The linebacker has primarily been seen doing rehab work on a side field across the last few weeks and was inactive last week.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Opportunity cost builds in the background while your capital sits idle.—
Gregory Clifford,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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The expectation is that the senior will be fully healthy following LSU’s idle week.—
Brian Hamilton,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Inert.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inert. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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