Active
Active adjective - Being in effective operation.
Usage example: the abandoned factory had not been active for years
Inert
Inert adjective - Not being in a state of use, activity, or employment.
Usage example: the inert, abandoned factories that are scattered all over that dying city
Both words in one sentence
- The Core is inert while you explore its chamber, and only becomes active at the end of a cutscene that you trigger by speaking with Curly.
Source: He Was Right There All Along -
Xenosaga Episode III had a medicine called "Seven Moons," which, aside from reviving your characters, also has a slow-acting Petrification effect - apparently an effect of an "inert" virus which has a chance every so often of mutating into an active form.
Source: Taken for Granite - Differences in the inert ingredients (such as the binding of the pill) may affect the rate at which the active ingredients are absorbed into the body, causing the exact same type and amount of medication to have a somewhat different effect.
Source: Brand Names Are Better
Cite this Source
Inert and Active. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/active/inert
Active & Inert. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/active/inert>.
Inert or Active. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/active/inert.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "active" and "inert" have occurred on timeline