/ English Dictionary |
INACTIVE
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not active physically or mentally
Example:
dreamy and inactive by nature
Classified under:
Similar:
desk-bound; deskbound (restricted to working in an office rather than in an active physical capacity)
abeyant; dormant (inactive but capable of becoming active)
hypoactive; underactive (abnormally inactive)
inert; sluggish; soggy; torpid (slow and apathetic)
sedentary (requiring sitting or little activity)
Also:
lethargic; unenergetic (deficient in alertness or activity)
Attribute:
activeness; activity (the trait of being active; moving or acting rapidly and energetically)
Antonym:
active (characterized by energetic activity)
Derivation:
inactiveness (a disposition to remain inactive or inert)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Example:
an inactive member
Classified under:
Similar:
retired (no longer active in your work or profession)
off (not performing or scheduled for duties)
Antonym:
active (engaged in full-time work)
Derivation:
inactivity (being inactive; being less active)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Lacking activity; lying idle or unused
Example:
inactive machinery
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
dark (not giving performances; closed)
dead (devoid of activity)
dull; slow; sluggish ((of business) not active or brisk)
idle; unused (not in active use)
strikebound (closed or immobilized by a strike)
Antonym:
active (full of activity or engaged in continuous activity)
Derivation:
inactiveness (the state of being inactive)
inactivity (being inactive; being less active)
Sense 4
Meaning:
(pathology) not progressing or increasing; or progressing slowly
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
quiescent ((pathology) causing no symptoms)
latent ((pathology) not presently active)
indolent ((of tumors, e.g.) slow to heal or develop and usually painless)
flat (commercially inactive)
dead-end (lacking opportunities for development or advancement)
Domain category:
pathology (the branch of medical science that studies the causes and nature and effects of diseases)
Antonym:
active (tending to become more severe or wider in scope)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Example:
Much benevolence of the passive order may be traced to a disinclination to inflict pain upon oneself
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
hands-off (not involving participation or intervention)
resistless; unresisting (offering no resistance)
supine (passive as a result of indolence or indifference)
Attribute:
passiveness; passivity (the trait of remaining inactive; a lack of initiative)
Derivation:
inactiveness; inactivity (a disposition to remain inactive or inert)
Sense 6
Meaning:
(of e.g. volcanos) not erupting and not extinct
Example:
a dormant volcano
Synonyms:
dormant; inactive
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
quiescent (being quiet or still or inactive)
Attribute:
dormancy; quiescence; quiescency (a state of quiet (but possibly temporary) inaction)
Derivation:
inactiveness; inactivity (the state of being inactive)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Not exerting influence or change
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
quiescent (not active or activated)
Antonym:
active (exerting influence or producing a change or effect)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Example:
the inertia of an object at rest
Synonyms:
inactive; motionless; static; still
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
nonmoving; unmoving (not in motion)
Derivation:
inactivity (the state of being inactive)
Sense 9
Meaning:
(military) not involved in military operations
Synonyms:
inactive; nonoperational
Classified under:
Adjectives
Domain category:
armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)
Sense 10
Meaning:
(chemistry) not participating in a chemical reaction; chemically inert
Example:
desired amounts of inactive chlorine
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unreactive ((chemistry) not reacting chemically)
Domain category:
chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)
Derivation:
inactivity (the state of being inactive)
Context examples:
Upon administration, certolizumab binds to TNF-alpha, preventing the interaction of this cytokine with endogenous cell surface receptors, thereby rendering TNF-alpha inactive and inhibiting TNF-mediated inflammatory responses.
(Certolizumab, NCI Thesaurus)
Upon administration, certolizumab binds to TNF-alpha and prevents the interaction of this cytokine with endogenous cell surface receptors, thereby rendering TNF-alpha inactive and inhibiting TNF-mediated inflammatory responses.
(Certolizumab Pegol, NCI Thesaurus)
Drugs that are pharmacologically inactive but when exposed to ultraviolet radiation or sunlight are converted to their active metabolite to produce a beneficial reaction affecting the diseased tissue.
(Photosensitizing agent, NCI Thesaurus)
An inactive substance or treatment that looks the same as, and is given the same way as, an active drug or treatment being tested.
(Placebo, NCI Dictionary)
An inactive substance, treatment or procedure that is intended to provide baseline measurements for the experimental protocol of a clinical trial.
(Placebo, NCI Thesaurus)
An inactive treatment or procedure that is intended to mimic as closely as possible a therapy in a clinical trial.
(Placebo therapy, NCI Dictionary)
Pancreatic proteolytic enzymes include trypsin, chymotrypsin and carboxypeptidase; these enzymes are secreted as zymogens, inactive precursors of the enzymes, and are activated in the lumen of the digestive canal.
(Pancreatic Proteolytic Enzymes, NCI Thesaurus)
It may be associated with inappropriate secretion of somatostatin and an associated clinical syndrome, or it may be hormonally inactive (non-functioning).
(Pancreatic Delta Cell Neuroendocrine Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)
A virus that may be carried in an inactive state for life by healthy individuals.
(CMV, NCI Dictionary)
The determination of the active and inactive genes present in a tumor sample.
(Molecular Fingerprinting of Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)