Meanings
plural inertias · plural inertiae · plural inertiæ
- countablefigurativelyuncountableIn a person, unwillingness to take action.
Men […] have immense irresolution and inertia.
1837, Thomas Carlyle, chapter II, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume III (The Guillotine), London: James Fraser, […], →OCLC, book IV (Terror)2 more examples
Not all the surviving veteran chiefs would actually fight. Some remained nominally in the resistance but in practice delayed at their bases, pretexting a lack of ammunition for their uncertain inertia.
1970 August 12 [1969 January 15], John Womack, Jr., Zapata and the Mexican Revolution, New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 261City had been woeful, their anger at their own inertia summed up when Samir Nasri received a booking for dissent, and they did not have a shot on target until the 66th minute.
2014 March 9, Jacob Steinberg, “Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals”, in The GuardianSynonyms: idleness, laziness, sloth, slothfulness
- countableuncountablemedicineLack of activity; sluggishness; said especially of the uterus, when, in labour, its contractions have nearly or wholly ceased.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounIn a person, unwillingness to take action.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latininertia“lack of art or skill, inactivity, indolence”
- Englishinertia
From Latin inertia (“lack of art or skill, inactivity, indolence”), from iners (“unskilled, inactive”), from in- (“without, not”) + ars (“skill, art”). Something close to the modern physics sense was first used in New Latin by Johannes Kepler.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic عَطَالَة, عَطَالَة
- عَطَالَة (ʕaṭāla)in physics
- عَطَالَة (ʕaṭāla)unwillingness to take action
Bulgarian инерция, мудност
- инерция (inercija)in physics
- мудност (mudnost)unwillingness to take action
- вялост (vjalost)unwillingness to take action
Catalan inèrcia, inèrcia
- inèrciain physics
- inèrciaunwillingness to take action
Chinese Mandarin 慣性 /惯性
- 慣性 /惯性 (guànxìng)in physics
Czech setrvačnost
- setrvačnostin physics
Dutch inertie, traagheid
- inertiein physics
- traagheidin physics
- daadloosheidunwillingness to take action
Esperanto inerteco, inerteca forto
- inertecoin physics
- inerteca fortoin physics
- inertfortoin physics
Estonian inerts, inertsus
- inertsin physics
- inertsusin physics
- tegevusetusunwillingness to take action
- loidusunwillingness to take action
Finnish hitaus, inertia
- hitausin physics
- inertiain physics
- vitkain physics
- jatkavuusin physics
- vastahakoisuusunwillingness to take action
- velttousin medicine
- inertiain medicine
French inertie
- inertiein physics
German Trägheit, Beharrungsvermögen
- Trägheitin physics
- Beharrungsvermögenin physics
- Beharrungin physics
- Trägheitunwillingness to take action
- Schwerfälligkeitunwillingness to take action
- Unbeweglichkeitunwillingness to take action
- Reglosigkeitin medicine
- Schwerfälligkeitin medicine
- Trägheitin medicine
Greek αδράνεια
- αδράνεια (adráneia)in physics
Hawaiian ehuō
- ehuōin physics
Hindi अक्रियता, निष्क्रियता
- अक्रियता (akriytā)in physics
- निष्क्रियता (niṣkriytā)unwillingness to take action
Hungarian tehetetlenség, tétlenség
- tehetetlenségin physics
- tétlenségunwillingness to take action
Irish táimhe, spadántacht
- táimhein physics
- spadántachtunwillingness to take action
Italian inerzia, inerzia
- inerziain physics
- inerziaunwillingness to take action
Japanese 慣性, 惰性
- 慣性 (kansei)in physics
- 惰性 (dasei)unwillingness to take action
Latin inertia, inertia
- inertiain physics
- inertiaunwillingness to take action
Latvian inerce
- inercein physics
Malay inersia
- inersiain physics
Māori tūpuku, whakapahoho
- tūpukuin physics
- whakapahohoin medicine
Norwegian treghet, treighet
- treghetin physics
- treighetin physics
Polish bezwładność, inercja
- bezwładnośćin physics
- inercjain physics
- inercjaunwillingness to take action
- bezwładnośćunwillingness to take action
Portuguese inércia, inércia
- inérciain physics
- inérciaunwillingness to take action
Romanian inerție
- inerțiein physics
Russian ине́рция, ине́ртность
- ине́рция (inɛ́rcija)in physics
- ине́ртность (inɛ́rtnostʹ)unwillingness to take action
- вя́лость (vjálostʹ)unwillingness to take action
Scottish Gaelic do-mhùthadh, leisg
- do-mhùthadhin physics
- leisgunwillingness to take action
- do-mhùthadhunwillingness to take action
Spanish inercia, inercia
- inerciain physics
- inerciaunwillingness to take action
Swedish tröghet, tröghet
- tröghetin physics
- tröghetunwillingness to take action
Tagalog tigal
- tigalin physics
Tamil சடத்துவம், நிலைமம்
- சடத்துவம் (caṭattuvam)in physics
- நிலைமம் (nilaimam)in physics
Thai ความเฉื่อย, ความเฉื่อยชา
- ความเฉื่อย (kwaam-chʉ̀ai)in physics
- ความเฉื่อยชาunwillingness to take action
Turkish eylemsizlik, atalet
- eylemsizlikin physics
- ataletunwillingness to take action
Ukrainian іне́рція
- іне́рція (inércija)in physics
Vietnamese quán tính
- quán tínhin physics
Welsh llesgedd, syrthni
- llesgeddunwillingness to take action
- syrthniunwillingness to take action
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with inertia
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
inertia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inertia
“inertia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inertia. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “inertia,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inertia.
Source: inertia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.