Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Inactivity |
InactivityNoun1. The state of being inactive. 2. A disposition to remain inactive or inert; "he had to overcome his inertia and get back to work". 3. Being inactive. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "inactivity" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1615. (references) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Medicine | A state of complete inactivity; a condition of indolence or sluggishness of body or mind. Source: European Union. (references) |
| A condition of indolence or sluggishness of body or mind. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: InactivitySynonyms: inaction (n), inactiveness (n), inertia (n). (additional references) |
| Antonyms: action (n), activeness (n), activity (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Inaction | Inactivity; rest; (repose); quiescence; want of occupation, inoccupation; idle hours, time hanging on one's hands, dolce far niente; sinecure, featherbed, featherbedding, cushy job, no-show job; soft snap, soft thing. |
Inactivity | Noun: inactivity; inaction; inertness; obstinacy. |
Inattention | Supineness; (inactivity); etourderie, want of thought; heedlessness; (neglect); insouciance; (indifference). |
Indifference | Noun: indifference, neutrality; coldness; Adjective: anaphrodisia; unconcern, insouciance, nonchalance; want of interest, want of earnestness; anorexy, anorexia, inappetency; apathy; (insensibility); supineness; (inactivity); disdain; recklessness; inattention. |
Irresolution | Verb: be irresolute; Adjective: hang in suspense, keep in suspense; leave "ad referendum"; think twice about, pause; dawdle; (inactivity); remain neuter; dillydally, hesitate, boggle, hover, dacker, hum and haw, demur, not know one's own mind; debate, balance; dally with, coquet with; will and will not, chaser-balancer; go halfway, compromise, make a compromise; be thrown off one's balance, stagger like a drunken man; be afraid; let "I dare not" wait upon "I would"; falter, waver |
Neglect | Noun: neglect; carelessness; Adjective: trifling; Verb: negligence; omission, oversight, laches, default; supineness; (inactivity); inattention; nonchalance; (insensibility); imprudence, recklessness; slovenliness; (disorder), (dirt); improvidence; noncompletion; inexactness; (error). |
Physical Inertness | Noun: inertness, dullness; Adjective: inertia, vis inertiae, inertion, inactivity, torpor, languor; quiescence; latency, inaction; passivity. |
Mental inertness; sloth; (inactivity); inexcitability; irresolution; obstinacy; permanence. | |
Weakness | Noun: weakness; Adjective: debility, atony, relaxation, languor, enervation; impotence; infirmity; effeminacy, feminality; fragility, flaccidity; inactivity. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Inactivity |
| English words defined with "inactivity": acedia, anergy, anestrum, anestrus, anoestrum, anoestrus, arrest ♦ canicular days, canicule, check ♦ desuetude, diestrous, diestrual, diestrum, diestrus, dioestrous, dioestrual, dog days, doldrums, Do-nothingness ♦ halt, hibernation, hitch ♦ indolence ♦ languor, laziness, lethargy, listlessness ♦ Mount Saint Helens, Mount St. Helens, Mt. St. Helens ♦ pause, phlegm ♦ resurrection ♦ Segnity, sloth, sluggishness, stagnancy, stagnation, stasis, stay, stop, stoppage ♦ torpidity, torpidness, torpor ♦ Unactiveness ♦ vegetation. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "inactivity": Abstainer, Advanced Power Management ♦ CORRECTIVE THERAPIST ♦ LABORATORY TECHNICIAN, PHARMACEUTICAL ♦ PROCRASTINATOR ♦ quiesce time ♦ Rent ♦ Shockwave. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "inactivity": Unactiveness. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Masterly inactivity! (The Man Who Never Was; writing credit: Nigel Balchin; Ewen Montagu) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | After more than three years of inactivity, the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object ...Credit: NASA. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Hannah More | Life though a short, is a working day. -- Activity may lead to evil; but inactivity cannot be led to good. |
Sir James Mackintosh | The commons, faithful to their system, remained in a wise and masterly inactivity. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | Ruthie and Winfield tried to play for a while, and then they too relapsed into sullen inactivity, and the rain drummed down on the roof. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Physical inactivity among the U.S. population is now widespread. (references) | |
Obesity, diabetes mellitus, physical inactivity, and behavior pattern are also risk factors. (references) | ||
Constipation can also be caused by inactivity, eating a poor diet, or drinking too little fluid. (references) | ||
Economic History | Netherlands | A modest decline in the inactivity ratio since 1994 has been attributed primarily to sharply rising job growth rather than to a fall in the number of benefit recipients. (references) |
Human Rights | Pakistan | The judicial process continued to be impeded by bureaucratic infighting, inactivity, and the overlapping jurisdictions of the different court systems. (references) |
Worker Rights | Brazil | After 2 years of relative inactivity, GERTRAF was revived during the year, leading to greater cooperation among government agencies. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | ABSTAINER, n. A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure. A total abstainer is one who abstains from everything but abstention, and especially from inactivity in the affairs of others. Said a man to a crapulent youth: "I thought You a total abstainer, my son." "So I am, so I am," said the scrapgrace caught -- "But not, sir, a bigoted one." G.J. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Inactivity" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Inactivity" is used about 153 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 153 | 25,427 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
inactivity | 8 |
inactivity physical | 4 |
inactivity time | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "inactivity"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | pritmëni, pasivitet (passivity), papunësi (idleness, inaction, unemployment), mosveprim (inaction, passivity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | كسل (drowse, idleness, inaction, indolence, inertia, languor, lassitude, laziness, lethargy, sloth, slothful, sluggard, sluggishness), لا نشاط, غير فعالية, تعطل (breakdown, conk, fall due on, give out, heave to, idleness, jam, pack, paralysis, spoil), سكون (calmness, easement, hush, placidity, quiescence, quiet, quietude, remission, repose, rest, sedation, sleep, still, stillness, tranquillity), جمود (deadlock, immobility, indolence, inertness, motionlessness, solid state, solidity, stagnancy, stagnation). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | неефикасност (inaction, inefficacy, inefficiency), бездействие (idleness, inaction, inertness, quiescence, quiescency, stagnancy, stagnation, vacancy), пасивност (drift, passiveness, passivity), инертност (heaviness, inaction, inertia, inertness, lethargy, quiescence, quiescency, stagnancy, stagnation). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 不活泼 (inactive). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | inertnost, zahálèivost (idleness), neèinnost (idleness, inaction, inertia, vacancy). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | inerti (inertia, sluggishness), inaktivitet, træghed (inertia, lag, smearing), sløvhed (dulling, inertia), ligegyldighed (abandonment, inertia, neglect). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | indolentie (indolence, inertia, painlessness), inactiviteit. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | عدم فعالیت , رکود (Inaction, Slump, Stagnancy). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | indolenssi (inertia), välinpitämättömyys (indifference, inertia, negligence), turtuneisuus (inertia), tunteettomuus (inertia, insensibility, lack of feeling), saamattomuus (inefficiency, inertia, lack of enterprise). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | inactivité. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | untätigkeit (dormancy, idleness, inaction, inactiveness, inertia, inertially, passivity), trägheit (idleness, inaction, indolence, inertia, inertial, inertness, lag, languidness, languishment, languor, lassitude, laziness, lethargy, phlegm, shiftlessness, sloth, sluggishness, smearing, supineness, torpidity, torpor), inaktivität. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | αδράνεια (dormancy, dullness, hebetude, inaction, inertia, inertness, mental dullness, remissness, sluggishness, stupor, torpor, vegetativeness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | חוסר פעילות. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | tunyaság (accidie, enervation, indolence, inertia, languidity, laziness, slothfulness, torpidity), tétlenség (idleness, inaction, inertia, otiosity, passiveness, passivity, quiescence, sloth, torpidness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | inerzia (inertia, inertness, passivity), inattivit (inaction). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 閑散 (leisure, quiet). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | ふかつか, か"さ" (change, conversion, exchange, joys and sorrows, leisure, quiet, sweetness and bitterness), むい (idleness, lacking rank, ordinary, unintentional), ち"たい (lease, stagnation), み" (indolence). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 비활동. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | neuvioyrid (enervation, insensibility, listlessness, senselessness), neuharrooghys (sloth), neuharrooghid (sloth), lhiastid (diffidence, idleness, inaction, indisposition, indolence, languidness, languor, lassitude, laziness, reluctance, sloth, slowness, sluggishness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | inactivityay inatividade (doldrums, idleness, idling, inactive, inertness, kaif, Kef, keif, kief), inactividade (half pay, inactivation, non-activity), imobilidade (immobility, immobilize, immovability, rest, time out), sem funcionar (work-shy). (various references) inactivitate (drift, idleness, vacancy), pasivitate (drift, passiveness, passivity). (various references) бездеятельность, инертность (inaction, inertia, inertness). (various references) nerad (reluctant, unwilling), neaktivnost (inaction, passivity). (various references) inactividad (dormancy, market, market dullness, market flatness, market slackness, market sluggishness, quiescence, quiescency, reachless, slackness, sluggishness, slumber, stagnation). (various references) overksamhet (drift, idleness, inaction, passivity). (various references) tesirsizlik, tembellik (dalliance, dilatoriness, idleness, inaction, indolence, inertia, laziness, slackness, sloth, sluggishness, stagnancy, stagnation, vacancy), hareketsizlik (immobility, inaction, inertia, inertness, quiet, quietness, quietude, rest, stagnancy, stagnation, still, stillness), durgunluk (backwater, calm, calmness, deadlock, deadness, inaction, inanimation, inertness, languor, placidity, recession, recessional, serenity, slack, slackness, slump, stagnancy, stagnation, stillness), üşengeçlik (dalliance, dilatoriness, indolence, sloth). (various references) бездіяльність (hibernation, inaction, non-feasance, otiosity, slack, standstill, torpidity). (various references) tính thiếu hoạt động (inactiveness, inanimateness), tính kém hoạt động (inactiveness), tính ì (inactiveness, inertia, inertness), tình trạng thiếu hoạt động (inactiveness), tình trạng kém hoạt động (inactiveness), tình trạng ì (inactiveness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | situs. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "inactivity" (pronounced i'nakti"vutē) |
| 8 | -a k t i" v u t ē | activity, hyperactivity, radioactivity, retroactivity. |
| 7 | -k t i" v u t ē | conductivity, connectivity, objectivity, productivity, reactivity, selectivity, subjectivity, superconductivity. |
| 6 | -t i" v u t ē | captivity, creativity, festivity, insensitivity, nativity, negativity, oversensitivity, receptivity, relativity, sensitivity. |
| 5 | -i" v u t ē | aggressivity, exclusivity, expressivity, passivity, proclivity, progressivity, reflexivity. |
| 4 | -v u t ē | brevity, cavity, depravity, gravity, hypersensitivity, levity, longevity, velvety. |
| 3 | -u t ē | ability, abnormality, absurdity, acceptability, accessibility, accountability, acidity, actuality, acuity, adaptability, admissibility, adversity, advisability, affinity, affordability, agility, alacrity, alkalinity, ambiguity, amenity, amiability, amity, analyticity, animosity, annuity, anonymity, antiquity, anxiety, applicability, atrocity, audacity, austerity, authenticity, authority, availability, banality, barbarity, believability, bestiality, biodiversity, bisexuality, brutality, calamity, capability, capacity, causality, celebrity, centrality, charity, chastity, civility, clarity, collegiality, commodity, commonality, community, comparability, compatibility, complexity, complicity, comprehensibility, conditionality, confidentiality, conformity, congeniality, congruity, constitutionality, continuity, convertibility, credibility, credulity, criminality, criticality, crotchety, culpability, curiosity, cyclicality, debility, deductibility, deformity, deity, deniability, density, dependability, deputy, desirability, dexterity, dignity, dimensionality, disability, discontinuity, disparity, dissimilarity, disunity, diversity, divinity, docility, domesticity, duality, ductility, duplicity, durability, eccentricity, elasticity, electability, electricity, eligibility, enforceability, enmity, enormity, entity, equality, equanimity, equity, eternity, ethnicity, eventuality, extraterritoriality, extremity, facility, fallibility, falsity, familiarity, fatality, feasibility, Felicity, femininity, ferocity, fertility, fidelity, finality, flammability, flexibility, fluidity, formality, fragility, fraternity, frivolity, frugality, functionality, futility, generality, generosity, geniality, gentility, gratuity, gullibility, heredity, heterogeneity, heterosexuality, hilarity, homogeneity, homosexuality, hospitality, hostility, humanity, humidity, humility, identity, illegality, illiquidity, immaturity, immobility, immorality, immortality, immunity, impartiality, impersonality, impossibility, impropriety, impunity, impurity, inability, inaccessibility, incapacity, incivility, incompatibility, incongruity, incredulity, indemnity, indestructibility, indignity, individuality, inequality, inequity, inevitability, infallibility, inferiority, infertility, infidelity, infinity, infirmity, inflexibility, informality, ingenuity, inhumanity, insanity, insecurity, instability, instrumentality, insularity, integrity, intensity, invincibility, invisibility, invulnerability, irrationality, irregularity, irresponsibility, irritability, laity, laxity, legality, legibility, lethality, liability, liberality, liquidity, lividity, locality, majority, malleability, maneuverability, marketability, masculinity, materiality, maternity, maturity, mediocrity, mendacity, mentality, minority, miscibility, mobility, modality, modernity, monstrosity, morality, morbidity, mortality, motility, multiplicity, municipality, musicality, mutuality, nationality, necessity, neutrality, nobility, Nonconformity, nonentity, nonutility, normality, notoriety, nudity, obesity, obscenity, obscurity, oddity, opacity, opportunity, originality, overcapacity, palatability, parity, partiality, particularity, paternity, paucity, peculiarity, permeability, perpetuity, perplexity, personality, perversity, piety, plausibility, plurality, polarity, polity, pomposity, popularity, portability, possibility, posterity, practicality, predictability, principality, priority, probability, probity, profanity, profitability, promiscuity, propensity, proportionality, propriety, prosperity, proximity, publicity, punctuality, purity, quality, quantity, rapidity, rarity, rationality, readability, reality, reciprocity, regularity, reliability, religiosity, respectability, responsibility, rickety, rigidity, salinity, sanctity, sanity, scarcity, seasonality, security, senility, seniority, sensibility, sensuality, sentimentality, serendipity, serenity, severity, sexuality, similarity, simplicity, sincerity, sobriety, society, solemnity, solidarity, solidity, sorority, speciality, specificity, spirituality, spontaneity, stability, sterility, stupidity, suitability, superfluidity, superiority, supermajority, surety, survivability, susceptibility, sustainability, technicality, temerity, tenacity, theatricality, timidity, tonality, totality, toxicity, tranquility, transferability, Trinity, triviality, turbidity, ubiquity, unanimity, unavailability, unfamiliarity, uniformity, unity, universality, university, unpopularity, unpredictability, unreality, unreliability, uppity, utility, validity, vanity, variability, variety, varsity, velocity, venality, veracity, Verity, versatility, viability, vicinity, virginity, virility, virtuosity, viscosity, visibility, vitality, volatility, voracity, vulgarity, vulnerability. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-i-i-i-n-t-t-v-y" | |
-2 letters: activity, anticity, nativity, vicinity. | |
-3 letters: tantivy, titanic. | |
-4 letters: cavity, intact, titian, vanity, viatic. | |
-5 letters: acini, actin, antic, attic, canty, catty, natty, nitty, tacit, taint, tinct, titan, vatic, vinca, vinic, vitta. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)49 6E 61 63 74 69 76 69 74 79 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).. -. .- -.-. - .. ...- .. - -.--. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01001001 01101110 01100001 01100011 01110100 01101001 01110110 01101001 01110100 01111001 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)I n a c t i v i t y |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0049 006E 0061 0063 0074 0069 0076 0069 0074 0079 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)43806769867588758691 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Translations: Ancient 14. Rhymes 15. Anagrams 16. Orthography | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
