inactivity

noun

inactivity

noun

Etymology From in- + activity or inactive + -ity.

1

The quality of being inactive; idleness; passiveness.

  • Painters depicted Idle Hours (see fig. 99), reverie, solitude, and other themes that reflected Americans' new willingness to eschew productivity, and they sold their canvases to patrons who enjoyed both the inactivities portrayed and seeing themselves portrayed in inactivities.1994, Helene Barbara Weinberg, Doreen Bolger, David Park Curry, American Impressionism and Realism:
  • Shepard: How do the Reapers survive out in dark space? Vigil: We have only theories. The researchers here came to believe the Reapers enter prolonged states of inactivity to conserve energy. Vigil: This allows them to survive the thousands and thousands of years it takes for organic civilization to rebuild itself. But in this state, they are vulnerable.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Ilos:
Derived terms
masterly inactivity

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.