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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

inactive.

Not active, temporarily or permanently.

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ɪnˈæktɪv/

  1. Not active, temporarily or permanently.

    The volcano is inactive, but is only dormant.
    Inactive user accounts may be deleted after 90 days.

  2. Not engaging in physical activity.

  3. Not functioning or operating; broken down

    The photocopier is inactive pending repair.

  4. Retired from duty or service.

    Admiral Jones is now on the inactive list.

  5. Relatively inert.

    Aluminium is inactive towards water.

  6. Showing no optical activity in polarized light.

    Synthetic glycine is optically inactive as it contains equal amounts of the d- and l- form.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in- Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus ▲ Ancient Greek ἐνεργητῐκός (energētĭkós)sl. Latin āctīvus Latin ināctīvuslbor. French inactifder. English inactive From French inactif. Piecewise doublet of unactive.

noun/ɪnˈæktɪv/

  1. A person who does not take action.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in- Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus ▲ Ancient Greek ἐνεργητῐκός (energētĭkós)sl. Latin āctīvus Latin ināctīvuslbor. French inactifder. English inactive From French inactif. Piecewise doublet of unactive.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.