Meaning & use
sedentary activity
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable or uncountable
Any activity done while sitting or lying down, using very little energy.
Grammar: Countable when referring to specific activities (a sedentary activity, sedentary activities); uncountable when referring to the general category (too much sedentary activity).
Patterns
- sedentary activities such as ...
- too much sedentary activity
- a sedentary activity like ...
Watching television for hours is a common sedentary activity.
Doctors recommend breaking up long periods of sedentary activity with short walks.
Children today spend more time in sedentary activities than in active play.
Word forms
| plural | sedentary activities |
|---|
Common combinations
- sedentary lifestyle
- A sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of heart disease.
- sedentary behavior
- The study measured sedentary behavior in office workers.
- sedentary work
- Sedentary work like computer programming can cause back pain.
- reduce sedentary activity
- The program aims to reduce sedentary activity among teenagers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- inactive
- Describes a person or thing that is not moving or working; 'sedentary' specifically refers to sitting and low energy use.
- desk-bound
- Informal and often disapproving; describes a job that keeps you at a desk, whereas 'sedentary' can refer to any sitting activity.
Opposites
Word family
- sedentary adjective
- Involving a lot of sitting and little exercise.
Commonly confused: sedentary activity or sedimentary?
sedentary activity vs sedimentary
Refers to rock formed from deposits or to the process of settling; not related to sitting.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'sedentary activity' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Reading a book involves sitting and very little movement, so it is sedentary. Running, swimming, and football are all active and require physical exertion, so they are not sedentary.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sedentary activity”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.