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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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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Recent Examples of inert
Reusable drones allow operators to train on the actual platform, replacing live warheads with inert payloads.
—
Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025
To demand that every new formulation be tested against an inert placebo would mean turning back the clock to reproduce trials that may have taken place decades ago, but resulted in the licensing of the original vaccine after safety and efficacy were established.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2025
This ethos has also influenced how Nkanga thinks of sculpture itself—not as an inert entity, but something that lives both physically and conceptually.
—Okla Jones, Essence, 3 May 2025
This capability not only allows for possibly identifying microbes among inert matter, as Nadeau and her colleagues proposed in that 2017 paper, but also enables tracking cellular changes that might not be apparent from flat, 2D imaging.
—John Loeffler, Space.com, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inert
Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025
To demand that every new formulation be tested against an inert placebo would mean turning back the clock to reproduce trials that may have taken place decades ago, but resulted in the licensing of the original vaccine after safety and efficacy were established.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2025
This ethos has also influenced how Nkanga thinks of sculpture itself—not as an inert entity, but something that lives both physically and conceptually.
—Okla Jones, Essence, 3 May 2025
This capability not only allows for possibly identifying microbes among inert matter, as Nadeau and her colleagues proposed in that 2017 paper, but also enables tracking cellular changes that might not be apparent from flat, 2D imaging.
—John Loeffler, Space.com, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inert
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inert
Adjective
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The cause of the blaze has not been determined, but the company has acknowledged that it may have been sparked by a faulty dormant power line operated by Edison.—
Caroline Petrow-Cohen,
Los Angeles Times,
22 May 2025
-
Perhaps the Flyers believe that a certain segment of the fan base that’s been dormant through what has been a mostly incompetent decade will awaken with the return of one of the organization’s most popular all-time players now running the day-to-day operations at ice level.—
Kevin Kurz,
New York Times,
21 May 2025
Adjective
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When Tommy leaves to bring his sleepy son home, Maria revisits her and Joel’s conversation about refugees.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
18 May 2025
-
Photos of my kid's birthday parties are no longer me with bleary, sleepy drinking eyes.—
Megan Cartwright,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 May 2025
Adjective
-
But the Lions scored three times in the top of the third off USD starter Cal Scolari.—
Bill Center,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 May 2025
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As the Cubs, winners in seven of their last nine, head into an off day Thursday, here are three takeaways from their second straight series victory.—
Meghan Montemurro,
Chicago Tribune,
21 May 2025
Adjective
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There’s an effort from the developer, Far Out Games, to tell a captivating noirish story here but the cutscenes and dialogue are painfully dull.—
Joshua Lamb,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2025
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The bristles of the brush manually sweep away dull, rough, flaky skin cells.—
Angela Palmer,
Verywell Health,
20 May 2025
Adjective
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Sadly, the Skirvin closed its doors in the late '80s and sat vacant for two decades.—
Anne Roderique-Jones,
Travel + Leisure,
24 May 2025
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While the bureau received an exemption to Trump's hiring freeze and posted job openings this month for temporary workers to conduct survey interviews, more than one-fifth of its leadership positions are vacant, according to a public staff roster released earlier this month.—
Hansi Lo Wang,
NPR,
23 May 2025
Adjective
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While the TikTok account had been inactive for months, the last posts on the other accounts directly preceded Tinney’s death.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
20 May 2025
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The one interesting thing to watch is how well the four teams who got first-round byes perform after being inactive for more than a week.—
Eric Sondheimer,
Los Angeles Times,
19 May 2025
Adjective
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So, out of the $403 million payroll, $93.75 million worth of pitchers are idle (not counting Ohtani).—
Jim Alexander,
Oc Register,
22 May 2025
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Built for Efficiency: Save Smarter, Live Freer The Apex 300 leads the class in power efficiency, sipping just 20W in idle mode—ideal for stretching backup runtime.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
20 May 2025
Adjective
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But just because a stock has been quiescent for a while is no reason to disdain it.—
John Dorfman,
Forbes.com,
19 May 2025
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In the early 2000s, the U.S. invasion of Iraq united Iraqi Kurds in a quest to preserve their autonomy, and the rivalry in greater Kurdistan eclipsed the quiescent Kurdish rivalry within Iraq.—
Behnam Ben Taleblu,
Foreign Affairs,
8 Nov. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Inert.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inert. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.
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