Meaning & use
stasis
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Meanings
noununcountableformal
A condition in which things stay the same and nothing develops or changes.
Grammar: Uncountable: a state of stasis.
Patterns
- a state of stasis
- fall into stasis
The talks fell into stasis after the first week.
The economy remained in stasis for years.
Fear of risk led the company into stasis.
noununcountablemedical
A medical condition in which a fluid, such as blood or waste, stops flowing normally.
Grammar: Often in compounds such as venous stasis.
Patterns
- stasis of something
Doctors checked for venous stasis in his legs.
Long flights can cause blood stasis.
Stasis in the gut slowed digestion.
Word forms
| plural | stases |
|---|
Common combinations
- state of stasis
- The negotiations were in a state of stasis.
- fall into stasis
- The project fell into stasis.
- stasis field
- The sci-fi hero escaped a stasis field.
- venous stasis
- Venous stasis causes swollen ankles.
- break the stasis
- A new leader broke the stasis.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stagnation
- Stagnation implies decay from lack of movement, while stasis is neutral.
- inertia
- Inertia is a tendency not to change or act, whereas stasis is the resulting stillness.
- standstill
- Standstill is more everyday, and often describes a temporary stop.
- equilibrium
- Equilibrium means balanced forces and can be active, but stasis means nothing is happening.
Opposites
Word family
- static adjective
- not moving or changing
- stable adjective
- steady and not likely to change
- stasis noun
- a stable, unchanging state
- homeostasis noun
- the body's way of staying balanced
Commonly confused: stasis or statis? stasis or status?
stasis vs statis
Statis is a misspelling; the word is spelled stasis.
stasis vs status
Status means rank or condition, and stasis means unchanging stillness.
Practice
After the merger, the company fell into ___ and stopped launching new products.
Choose one answer.
Stasis means a lack of change or movement. Status means standing or position, and the other words have no such meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stasis”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.