Meaning & use
inaction
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Meanings
noununcountable
A failure to do anything about a situation that calls for a response.
Grammar: No plural and no article: inaction is costly.
Patterns
- inaction on something
- inaction over something
Residents blamed the council's inaction for the flooding.
Years of inaction on climate change have made the problem worse.
His inaction during the argument made things awkward for everyone.
noununcountableformal
A state of not moving or not being active.
Grammar: Less common and sometimes neutral in tone.
After weeks of inaction in the hospital bed, she needed therapy to walk.
The market sank into inaction as traders waited for news.
Common combinations
- government inaction
- Government inaction angered voters.
- years of inaction
- Years of inaction left the bridge in ruins.
- criticize inaction
- Campaigners criticized the ministry's inaction.
- inaction on something
- The report condemned inaction on safety rules.
- the cost of inaction
- The cost of inaction could be millions of dollars.
- blame inaction
- Parents blamed the school's inaction for the bullying.
Synonyms and how they differ
- passivity
- Passivity describes a general habit of not responding, while inaction names a specific failure to act.
- idleness
- Idleness suggests laziness or having nothing to do, whereas inaction usually implies a failure of duty.
- inertia
- Inertia is a tendency to stay unchanged, often through habit, while inaction is simply not acting.
- apathy
- Apathy focuses on not caring, while inaction only describes the lack of action.
Opposites
Word family
- action noun
- the doing of something
- inactive adjective
- not doing anything or not working
- inactivity noun
- a lack of activity
- inactively adverb
- in a way that involves no activity
Commonly confused: inaction or inactivity?
inaction vs inactivity
Inactivity means a lack of movement or exercise, while inaction usually means not acting when you should.
Practice
Residents were furious at the council's ___ over the dangerous road.
Choose one answer.
Inaction means failure to act on an issue. Inactive is an adjective and inactivity means lack of movement, which does not suit a failing council.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “inaction”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.