Word of the day · Tuesday, October 27, 2026

inert

adjective

Not moving or acting. In chemistry, slow or unable to react with other substances.

Where it comes from

From Latin iners, inert-, meaning idle or unskilled, from in-, not, and ars, skill.

Worth knowing

The noble gases such as neon and argon were long called the inert gases. That label faded after 1962, when chemists made the first compound of xenon.

By the letters

• 5letters
• 2vowels (A E I O U)
• noneuncommon letters
• 5different letters

Playing it

INERT has more anagrams than most five-letter words. INTER, NITER, NITRE and TRINE use the same letters, so the right letters in the wrong order can still clear.

Anagrams

Words that use exactly the same letters as INERT. See anagram.

• inter
• niter
• nitre
• trine

Hooks

One letter added to make a new word (what is a hook), at the end: INERTS.

One letter away

Words you get by changing a single letter, the steps of a word ladder.

• inept
• inerm

In Unsaid

INERT was word of the day number 9 in Unsaid, a falling-letter word game where every player gets the same word on the same date. As a word it scores 500 points. Under the current rules, spelling it as the word of the day is worth a bonus of 9,000 reading down or 6,750 reading across, before any streak. How the bonus works.