Inertia
//ɪnˈɝ.ʃə// noun
noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The property of a body that resists any change to its uniform motion; equivalent to its mass. countable, uncountable
- 2 a disposition to remain inactive or inert wordnet
- 3 In a person, unwillingness to take action. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"Men […] have immense irresolution and inertia."
- 4 (physics) the tendency of a body to maintain its state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force wordnet
- 5 Lack of activity; sluggishness; said especially of the uterus, when, in labour, its contractions have nearly or wholly ceased. countable, uncountable
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Inertia is an important governing law."
Etymology
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.
Related phrases
More for "inertia"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.