inertia
inertia Lexical Profile
inertia Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged; a state of sluggishness, apathy, or lack of initiative.
"The committee struggled to overcome years of bureaucratic inertia to pass the new reforms."
A property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force.
"Passengers lurch forward when a car brakes suddenly because of the law of inertia."
Word Nuance & Usage
In everyday use, 'inertia' almost always refers to sluggishness or a failure to act, whereas in physics it applies equally to an object remaining at rest or continuing to move at a constant velocity.
• Rhymes for inertia
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 18th century from Latin 'inertia' ('unskillfulness, inactivity'), derived from 'iners' ('unskilled, idle'), a combination of 'in-' ('not') and 'ars' ('skill, art'). Its scientific use in physics was introduced by Johannes Kepler and later popularized by Isaac Newton.