SEDENTARY

sedentary

(adjective) requiring sitting or little activity; “forced by illness to lead a sedentary life”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

sedentary (comparative more sedentary, superlative most sedentary)

Not moving; relatively still; staying in the vicinity.

(anthropology, of a human population) Living in a fixed geographical location; the opposite of nomadic.

(medicine, of a job, lifestyle, etc.) Not moving much; sitting around.

(obsolete) inactive; motionless; sluggish; tranquil

(obsolete) Caused by long sitting.

Synonyms

• (not moving): immobile, motionless, torpid; see also stationary

• (living in a fixed geographical location): settled, non-migratory

• (sitting around): chairborne, sitsome

• (inactive): abeyant, cessant, dormant; see also inactive

Antonyms

• (living in a fixed geographical location): migratory

• (sitting around): active

• (inactive): active

Noun

sedentary (plural sedentaries)

a sedentary person

Anagrams

• yearnedst

Source: Wiktionary

Sed"en*ta*ry, a. Etym: [L. sedentarius, fr. sedere to sit: cf. F. seédentaire. See Sedent.]

1. Accustomed to sit much or long; as, a sedentary man. "Sedentary, scholastic sophists." Bp. Warburton.

2. Characterized by, or requiring, much sitting; as, a sedentary employment; a sedentary life. Any education that confined itself to sedentary pursuits was essentially imperfect. Beaconsfield.

3. Inactive; motionless; sluggish; hence, calm; tranquil. [R.] "The sedentary earth." Milton. The soul, considered abstractly from its passions, is of a remiss, sedentary nature. Spectator.

4. Caused by long sitting. [Obs.] "Sedentary numbness." Milton.

5. (Zoöl.)

Definition: Remaining in one place, especially when firmly attached to some object; as, the oyster is a sedentary mollusk; the barnacles are sedentary crustaceans. Sedentary spider (Zoöl.), one of a tribe of spiders which rest motionless until their prey is caught in their web.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition