INERT
What does "INERT" mean?
Lacking the power to move or act, or chemically unreactive.
Meanings
- Not chemically reactive; not readily forming compounds. Argon is an inert gas used to protect welds from oxidation. technical
- Lacking the ability or power to move; motionless. The patient lay inert on the gurney.
- Slow to act or move; sluggish and without initiative. Years of routine had left the committee politically inert. formal
Did you know?
- 'Inert' and 'art' are relatives: Latin 'iners' meant 'without art or skill' ('in-' plus 'ars'), so to be inert is, etymologically, to be artless.
Word origin
From Latin 'iners' (unskilled, inactive, idle), from 'in-' (not) plus 'ars' (skill, art) - so 'inert' literally means 'without art or skill', and shares its root with 'art' and 'artisan'.
Remember it
INERT shares a root with 'inertia' - both name something that just sits there until a force acts on it.
A little poem
Noble gas, aloof -
it joins nothing, gives nothing,
lights the sign all night.
haiku
What it teaches
Inert is not the same as empty; the most unreactive things often hold their charge in reserve.
Quick facts
What does INERT mean?
Lacking the power to move or act, or chemically unreactive.
Is INERT a valid word?
Yes — INERT is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is INERT?
INERT has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does INERT come from?
From Latin 'iners' (unskilled, inactive, idle), from 'in-' (not) plus 'ars' (skill, art) - so 'inert' literally means 'without art or skill', and shares its root with 'art' and 'artisan'.
What can INERT teach us?
Inert is not the same as empty; the most unreactive things often hold their charge in reserve.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.