Meanings
nouninertness (usually uncountable, plural inertnesses)
plural inertnesses
- uncountableusuallyLack of activity or exertion; habitual indisposition to action or motion
No life stirred. They alone moved through the vast inertness. They alone were alive, and they sought for other things that were alive in order that they might devour them and continue to live.
1906, Jack London, “The Battle of the Fangs”, in White Fang, pages 49-63Synonyms: sluggishness, apathy, insensibility
- uncountableusuallyAbsence of the power of self-motion; inertia.
- uncountableusuallychemistryQuality of being unreactive with other chemical compounds or elements.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounLack of activity or exertion; habitual indisposition to action or motion
Origin
Translations
French inertie
- inertiesluggishness
German Trägheit
- Trägheitsluggishness
Italian apatia, indolenza
- apatiasluggishness
- indolenzasluggishness
- inerziainertia
- inerziachemically unreactive
Latin torpēdō
- torpēdōsluggishness
Polish bezwładność, bezwładność
- bezwładnośćsluggishness
- bezwładnośćinertia
- obojętnośćchemically unreactive
- biernośćchemically unreactive
- inercjachemically unreactive
- pasywnośćchemically unreactive
Spanish inercia, inercia
- inerciasluggishness
- inerciainertia
- inercia químicachemically unreactive
Cite this entry
APA
inertness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inertness
MLA
“inertness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inertness. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “inertness,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inertness.
Source: inertness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.