1
as in sleepy
slow to move or act
it's easiest to catch snakes early in the morning, while they're still cold and inactive
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dormant
not being in a state of use, activity, or employment
an inactive oil well
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of inactive
Sanders was inactive for the New England game with a back issue that kept him out of Monday’s post-bye practice, and Stefanski has insisted that the team is sticking with Gabriel.
—
Zac Jackson, New York Times, 5 Nov. 2025
This comes after Sanders was inactive for the team's Week 8 game due to his back injury.
—Reice Shipley, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
People in the study were somewhat inactive, with daily step counts below 8,000.
—Jamie Ducharme, Health, 4 Nov. 2025
Those who recorded the most steps on average daily, measured by a pedometer, lowered their rate of cognitive decline by up to 54% compared to those who were inactive.
—Alice Park, Time, 3 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inactive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inactive
Adjective
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Signs to treat fevers include being unusually sleepy, cranky and refusing food and drinks.—
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Trancoso, Bahia The opening of Uxua Casa Hotel & Spa in 2009 transformed the sleepy fishing village of Trancoso into a boho-chic hot spot.—
Adjective
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As the mercury plummets and back-to-work blues set in for much of humankind in the UK, many other creatures are cosily spending winter in a blissfully dormant state of hibernation.—
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Cornerbacks Kristian Fulton and Nohl Williams were among the Chiefs’ best players for a second consecutive week as both helped shut down a dormant Raiders pass game.—
Adjective
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But the astronomers suspect this kind of bursty young galaxy in the early universe may someday evolve into what's known as a massive quiescent galaxy in the modern-day cosmos.—
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All of that water weight exerts a steady downward pressure, suppressing rifting and magma flow, and keeping the subterranean region relatively quiescent.—
Adjective
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Using his off hand, Brown spun the ball off the glass and through the hoop while Shead fouled him.—
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In November 2022, the four college students were found stabbed to death in an off-campus home in the small community of Moscow, Idaho.—
Adjective
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Contributor Yelena Moroz Alpert finds Brooklinen’s prints a good midway point between something too chintzy or something too dull, and thinks highly of the material as well.—
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The fiber’s irregular length distribution—with 50 percent at 28 millimeters and 50 percent in the 10 to 20 millimeter range—delivers a textured, semi-dull and opaque aesthetic that achieves a genuine, vintage washdown performance.—
Adjective
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Officials believe the fire started in the occupied home and spread to the vacant home next door.—
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No public update on the project has been released since 2023, and the land remains vacant.—
Adjective
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Because the dopants are earth-abundant, the synthesis uses conventional solid-state processing, and no inert atmosphere is required, the approach aligns well with existing gigafactory infrastructure.—
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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.—
Adjective
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Dumas has worked for Valero for four years but just moved to the Benicia location from Arizona a year ago, just a few months before the energy company announced a possible plan to cease or idle operations.—
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One such power line, the century-old Mesa-Sylmar, owned by SoCal Edison, had been idle for some fifty years.—
Cite this Entry
“Inactive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inactive. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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