Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Characterized by or requiring much sitting: a sedentary job.
- adj. Accustomed to sitting or to taking little exercise.
- adj. Remaining or living in one area, as certain birds; not migratory.
- adj. Attached to a surface and not moving freely, as a barnacle.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Sitting; being or continuing in a sitting posture; working habitually in a sitting posture.
- Hence— Fixed; settled; permanent; remaining in the same place.
- Inactive; idle; sluggish: as, a sedentary life.
- In zoology
- Abiding in one place: not migratory, as a bird.
- . Fixed in a tube; not errant, as a worm; belonging to the Sedentaria.
- Spinning a web and lying in wait, as a spider; belonging to the Sedentariæ.
- Affixed; attached; not free-swimming, as an infusorian, a rotifer, polyp, cirriped, mollusk, ascidian, etc.; specifically, belonging to the Sedentaria.
- Encysted and motionless or quiescent, as a protozoan. Compare resting-spore.
- Accustomed to sit much, or to pass most of the time in a sitting posture; hence, secluded.
- Characterized by or requiring continuance in a sitting posture: as, a sedentary profession; the sedentary life of a scholar.
- Resulting from inactivity or much sitting.
- n. A sedentary person; one of sedentary habits.
- n. A member of the Sedentariæ; a sedentary spider.
- In geology, remaining upon the rock from which it has been formed by disintegration: said of soil or loose rock material.
- In intern. law, said of the private property of a neutral which has remained on belligerent soil or of a neutral vessel in foreign waters. See the extract.
Wiktionary
- adj. Not moving; relatively still; staying in the vicinity.
- adj. medicine, of a job, etc. Not moving much; sitting around.
- adj. obsolete inactive; motionless; sluggish; tranquil
- adj. obsolete Caused by long sitting.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Accustomed to sit much or long.
- adj. Characterized by, or requiring, much sitting.
- adj. rare Inactive; motionless; sluggish; hence, calm; tranquil.
- adj. obsolete Caused by long sitting.
- adj. (Zoöl.) Remaining in one place, especially when firmly attached to some object.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. requiring sitting or little activity
Etymologies
- From Latin sedentārius ("sitting"), from sedeō ("I sit, I am seated"). (Wiktionary)
- French sédentaire, from Old French, from Latin sedentārius, from sedēns, sedent-, present participle of sedēre, to sit; see sed- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“In general it appears that a man or a woman whose occupation is what we call sedentary, who is without vigorous exercise and does but little hard muscular work, needs much less than the man at hard manual labor, and that the brain worker needs comparatively little of carbohydrates or fats.”
“Charlene Burgeson, executive director of the National Association for Sport & Physical Education, a group of physical education and sports professionals, says, This study reinforces the importance of all youth being physically active, spending minimal time in sedentary activities such as TV watching, and maintaining a healthy weight.”
“In the United States, a study involving 43,757 male health professionals some of whom were described as sedentary or overweight, or were smokers, or both found that those consuming more than 25 grams of fiber per day had a 36 percent lower risk of developing heart disease than those who consumed less than 15 grams daily.”
“And as long as we remain sedentary and warm, they’ll stay.”
“Zú‘l-Ka’adah, the sedentary, is the rest time of the year, when fighting is forbidden and Zu’l-Hijjah explains itself as the pilgrimage-month.”
“Conan," he thought he heard a voice, though as he heard his name the sedentary mist came to life, swirling around the trees and statues and over his bare chest, sending a chill down his spine.”
“It migrates over lage distances for a so- called sedentary species, needs riparian areas and insects for its chicks, and above all needs SAGE, a major part of its diet.”
“Both cutties and churchwardens were smoked, but the latter of course were not adapted for persons engaged in active pursuits and were essentially of what I may call a sedentary nature.”
“Well," said Daniel, "I have a very distinct suspicion that when, thirteen years hence, I fall into your hands I shall not enjoy what might be called a sedentary life.”
“That No. 53 on the sedentary aka "least active" list is the equivalent of a C- letter grade, Men's Health says.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘sedentary’.
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Test Prep or Just for fun
Building a list for standardized test prep or just for learning some new words! Please add any words that you feel are important for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc...
throng, morass, parley, facile, kismet, strife, jetsam, carrion, annex, harbinger, vestige, surreptitious and 575 more...
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1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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common UA vocab. in US
Interesting, there is a traditional vocabulary of an Ukrainian, that differs from vocabulary of average American. It would be nice to explore it.
jackdaw, incongruous, cassock, vivid, magpie, humdrum, amongst, wonder, wandering, wheedling, wheedle, osseous and 368 more...
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List 2(starting at 260)
mammoth, overt, valor, aspire, relegate, bias, incisive, scurry, precipitate, singular, inveigh, repulse and 48 more...
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GRE 1100
drudgery, implore, hapless, nuance, wrest, incipient, inadvertent, tremulous, bristle, euphemism, disdain, pugnacious and 346 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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generationnext's Words
petulant, vehement, pensive, lascivious, vacillate, histrionic, satiated, svelte, lithe, zeitgeist, viscous, sommelier and 526 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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My preparation
for GRE ofcourse
morbid, disparate, incipient, exonerate, engross, ebullient, predilection, propensity, allure, qualms, chastise, perpetuate and 111 more...
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SAT Vocab
Redundant.
problematic, proclivity, prodigal, prodigious, prodigy, profane, profligate, profound, profusion, proliferation, prolific, prologue and 455 more...
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vocabulary
verisimilitude, pendulate, moxie, whimper, nary, stevedore, hubris, prodigious, super-injunction, injunction, lashings, fennel and 202 more...
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samuraizack's Words
floccinaucinihili..., pneumonoultramicr..., bombastic, existentialistic, velocipede, aglet, anatomical snuffbox, wonk, tang, funambulist, quakebuttock, flews and 390 more...
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Necessary?
"Words are very..."
The above was the original description for this list. Unfortunately, it doesn't convey much about the list contents.
I'm leaving you to draw your own conclusions abo...supererogation, fruitcake, unbeknownst, melifluous, bane, cavy, unnecessary, lyrical, question, undertow, weapon, arduous and 200 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for sedentary.
blafferty The word itself has trouble getting up off the couch. Apr 20, 2011