inertia
inertia — 名詞
1. a general unwillingness or inability to change a situation or start doing someth
惰性
缺乏改變的動力或意願
a general unwillingness or inability to change a situation or start doing something new, because it feels easier to remain in the same state.
Kian remained in a state of inertia, sending the same résumé year after year.
Kian 陷入惰性狀態，年復一年地投遞同一份舊履歷。
collocation: state of inertia
The company's strong inertia stopped it from adopting digital tools for over a decade.
公司強大的惰性讓它十多年來未能採用數位工具。
Every January Heloísa promises to exercise more, but inertia keeps her on the sofa.
每年一月 Heloísa 都發誓要多運動，但惰性總讓她待在沙發上。
Overcoming the inertia of a large government department took Sahil several months of steady effort.
Sahil 花了幾個月的持續努力，才克服了一個大型政府部門的惰性。
Teachers often complain about student inertia when they introduce a brand-new topic that feels unfamiliar.
當老師介紹一個完全陌生的新主題時，經常抱怨學生的惰性。
- laziness
more personal and morally loaded; implies someone chooses not to work
- lethargy
physical or medical tiredness rather than a mental reluctance to change
- apathy
emotional lack of interest or concern, not just a resistance to action
- stagnation
often used for economies or organisations that fail to grow over time
- motivation
the internal drive to take action or make a change
- momentum
the energy or force that keeps progress going once it has started
用法筆記
Commonly modified by adjectives naming the source of the inactivity: 'bureaucratic inertia', 'political inertia', 'organisational inertia'. Always uncountable in this sense.
常見錯誤
2. the principle of physics according to which an object that is stationary tends t
慣性
物體保持運動狀態的物理性質
the principle of physics according to which an object that is stationary tends to stay still, and an object that is moving tends to keep going along a straight line, until another force acts on it.
When the taxi stopped suddenly, the passengers' inertia kept them sliding forward in their seats.
計程車突然煞停時，乘客的慣性使他們在座位上向前滑動。
pattern: possessive + inertia
A model rocket needs enough thrust to overcome its own inertia and lift off.
模型火箭需要足夠的推力來克服自身的慣性才能升空。
In physics class Lotte learned how inertia keeps a marble rolling after you let go.
在物理課上 Lotte 學到慣性如何讓放手後的彈珠繼續滾動。
Sirin pulled paper from under a coin, and the coin fell into a glass by inertia.
Sirin 從硬幣下方抽走紙片，硬幣因慣性落入杯中。
During the crash, Tamar's seat belt tightened to counter the inertia of her body.
車禍發生時，Tamar 的安全帶收緊以抵銷她身體的慣性。
用法筆記
Strictly a physics term, though it appears in everyday explanations of motion (seat belts, vehicle crashes, sports). Uncountable. Frequently appears in the pattern 'the inertia of [noun phrase]', for example 'the inertia of the vehicle'.