inert

Definitions

in- (not) + ars (skill, art) = 'without skill, without the art of acting.' Latin iners first meant unskilled and idle, then incapable of acting. English narrowed it: an inert body lies motionless; an inert gas (helium, argon) is so unreactive it 'does nothing' chemically.

Why It Means This

Inert is the art root turned inside out. The same ars that makes an artist skilled, prefixed with in- ('not'), describes something with no skill, no spark, no action: a body slumped and still, a gas that refuses to react. When you call a meeting or a person 'inert,' you're saying — etymologically — that there's no 'art,' no active doing, left in them.

Common Collocations

• 1.inert gas惰性气体
• 2.chemically inert化学惰性的
• 3.lie inert一动不动地躺着
• 4.inert mass惰性物质

Example Sentences

• 1.

  He lay inert on the sofa, too exhausted to move.

• 2.

  Helium is an inert gas, so it won't burn or react.

• 3.

  The committee remained inert in the face of the crisis.

Synonym Comparison