Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Inert
1.
Destitute of the power of moving itself, or of active resistance to motion;
as, matter is
. inert
2.
Indisposed to move or act; very slow to act; sluggish; dull; inactive; indolent; lifeless.
The
inert
and desponding party of the court. Macaulay.
It present becomes extravagant, then imbecile, and at length utterly
inert
. I. Taylor.
Syn. – Inactive; dull; passive; indolent; sluggish; slothful; lazy; lifeless; irresolute; stupid; senseless; insensible.
– Inert
, Inactive
, Sluggish
. A man may be inactive from mere lack of stimulus to effort; but one who is inert has something in his constitution or his habits which operates like a weight holding him back from exertion. Sluggish is still stronger, implying some defect of temperament which directly impedes action. Inert and inactive are negative, sluggish is positive. Even the favored isles . . .
Can boast but little virtue; and,
Through plenty, lose in morals what they gain
In manners – victims of luxurious ease.
Can boast but little virtue; and,
inert
Through plenty, lose in morals what they gain
In manners – victims of luxurious ease.
Cowper.
Doomed to lose four months in
inactive
obscurity. Johnson.
Sluggish
Idleness, the nurse of sin,Upon a slothful ass he chose to ride.
Spenser.
Webster 1828 Edition
Inert
INERT'
,Adj.
art.
1.
Destitute of the power of moving itself, or of active resistance to motion impressed; as, matter is inert.2.
Dull; sluggish; indisposed to move or act.