Crossword Dictionary
INERT
inert, inerts, inerter, inertest, restiff - n
something that lacks active properties
Synonyms
dead, dormant, fallow, free, idle, inactive, inoperative, latent, off, unused, vacant
Examples
He opened the back door of the van and motioned Betsy inside as Molly lay inert on the ground.
Whereas the soil used to be looked upon solely as a dead, inert material containing certain chemical substances which serve as food constituents.
At every stage the degree of tension requisite for existence is slackened, and the resulting element approaches more and more to " inert " matter.
Etymology
1640s, "without inherent force, having no power to act or respond," from French inerte (16c.) or directly from Latin inertem (nominative iners) "unskilled, incompetent; inactive, helpless, weak, sluggish; worthless," used of stagnant fluids, uncultivated pastures, expressionless eyes. It is a compound of in- "without, not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + ars (genitive artis) "skill" (see art (n.)). In chemistry, "having no active properties, neutral" (1800), specifically from 1885 of certain chemically inactive, colorless, odorless gases. Of persons or creatures, "indisposed or unable to move or act," from 1774.