inactive
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Not active physically or mentally.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihnaktivSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪˈnæktɪv
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Not active physically or mentally
“Illness forced him to live an inactive life.”
Not active, temporarily or permanently.
Lacking activity; lying idle or unused
Not engaging in physical activity.
Not functioning or operating; broken down
Retired from duty or service.
noun
A person who does not take action.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Not active physically or mentally
Used this way, inactive is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Illness forced him to live an inactive life.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use inactive
- “Illness forced him to live an inactive life.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The process of rendering inactive.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.