Word family noun act action ≠ inaction activity ≠ inactivity reaction interaction overacting adjective acting active ≠ inactive verb act ≠ overact adverb actively
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishinactivein‧ac‧tive /ɪnˈæktɪv/ adjective 1 NOT DO somethingnot doing anything, not working, or not moving OPP active The brain cells are inactive during sleep. Young people are becoming politically inactive.2 not taking part in something that normally you would take part in Graham’s knee injury means he will be inactive for Sunday’s game.3 technical an inactive substance does not react chemically with other substancesExamples from the Corpus
inactive• She dreads becoming old and inactive.• Very shy people often become socially inactive.• Children whose parents are inactive are less likely to be active themselves.• Serum was incubated with ID1, which bound active and inactive caeruloplasmin.• The fault, which scientists had believed was inactive, caused a 6.5 earthquake.• Men who are currently sexually inactive do not feel masculine during sport.• Haley was inactive for Saturday's game because of a knee injury.• The virus can be inactive in the body for more than ten years.• Fullback Derrick Fenner has spent time on the inactive list.• Moreover by the 1750s the provincial parlements, hitherto relatively inactive, were increasingly following the lead of that of Paris.From Longman Business Dictionaryinactivein‧ac‧tive /ɪnˈæktɪv/ adjective1FINANCE if investors or dealers in a financial market are inactive, they are buying and selling very littleInstitutions continued to buy stocks selectively, while small investors remained inactive.2FINANCE if a company’s shares are inactive, very few people are buying or selling themThe Pacific Stock Exchange announced a plan to list a category of inactive stocks.3COMMERCE if a company is inactive, it still exists but does not do any businessa now inactive subsidiary of A.O. Smith Corp.4BANKING if a loan is inactive, interest payments are not being made on it as agreedThe bank itself ran up losses of $15 billion, with extensive outstanding but inactive loans. 