as in inertia
lack of action or activity
as a result of the park department's inaction, the city's pools are not ready to open for the summer
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Recent Examples of inaction
Leaders at the bureau failed to improve their practices during the Biden administration, utilizing outdated methods that rendered a once reliable system completely ineffective and calling into question the motivation behind their inaction.
—
Gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Sep. 2025
Actors speak and react to Rajab’s own desperate voice, while the film, set wholly within the Red Crescent’s beigely neutral offices, conjures a fraught ticking-clock atmosphere as precious minutes of inaction pass by.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 3 Sep. 2025
Those who support some legal restrictions on guns, often Democrats, say that Republican politicians who appeal to prayer are trying to distract from their own inaction on such things as red flag laws or stricter background checks on gun purchases.
—Peter Smith, Twin Cities, 30 Aug. 2025
Themes span from how inaction and silence can result in complicity, and how the system turns against those who attempt to change it from within.
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 29 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inaction
Gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Sep. 2025
Actors speak and react to Rajab’s own desperate voice, while the film, set wholly within the Red Crescent’s beigely neutral offices, conjures a fraught ticking-clock atmosphere as precious minutes of inaction pass by.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 3 Sep. 2025
Those who support some legal restrictions on guns, often Democrats, say that Republican politicians who appeal to prayer are trying to distract from their own inaction on such things as red flag laws or stricter background checks on gun purchases.
—Peter Smith, Twin Cities, 30 Aug. 2025
Themes span from how inaction and silence can result in complicity, and how the system turns against those who attempt to change it from within.
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 29 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inaction
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inaction
inertia
Noun
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This might look like prolonged dependence on parents for housing and finances, difficulty committing to work or education, avoidance of romantic or social commitments or a general inertia around planning for the future.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
-
Driven by the balance between gravity and inertia, the weight shifts automatically as vibrations change.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
13 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Inaction.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inaction. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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