supine

Synonym Chooser

How is the word supine different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of supine are idle, inactive, inert, and passive. While all these words mean "not engaged in work or activity," supine applies only to persons and commonly implies abjectness or indolence.

a supine willingness to play the fool

When would idle be a good substitute for supine?

The words idle and supine are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, idle applies to persons that are not busy or occupied or to their powers or their implements.

workers were idle in the fields

When might inactive be a better fit than supine?

The meanings of inactive and supine largely overlap; however, inactive applies to anyone or anything not in action or in operation or at work.

on inactive status as an astronaut
inactive accounts

Where would inert be a reasonable alternative to supine?

The words inert and supine can be used in similar contexts, but inert as applied to things implies powerlessness to move or to affect other things; as applied to persons it suggests an inherent or habitual indisposition to activity.

inert ingredients in drugs
an inert citizenry

In what contexts can passive take the place of supine?

While the synonyms passive and supine are close in meaning, passive implies immobility or lack of normally expected response to an external force or influence and often suggests deliberate submissiveness or self-control.

passive resistance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of supine Beginner stretches include standing awareness, head hang, and supine spinal twist. Michelle Pugle, Verywell Health, 24 Oct. 2024 Poses that can help with endometriosis pain include happy baby, legs-up-the-wall, and supine spinal twist. Cory Martin, Verywell Health, 30 Sep. 2024 The Tesla board, which had changed somewhat since 2018 but was still supine toward Musk, also asked shareholders in effect to overturn McCormick’s ruling by voting on the pay package again. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2024 All that is left is a nearly operatic cast of figures: the isolated tsar, the supine patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, the treacherous courtiers, the money-grabbing warlords, and, finally, the audacious pretender—all of them acting according to the ancient scripts. Vladislav Zubok, Foreign Affairs, 28 June 2023 See All Example Sentences for supine
Recent Examples of Synonyms for supine
Adjective
  • Employees became more engaged in organizational initiatives, fostering a culture of active participation rather than passive compliance.
    Benjamin Laker, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
  • Weegee’s pictures of disaster, crime, and urban blight not only grabbed viewers’ attention but highlighted the ways in which passive spectatorship had come to dominate our lives as citizens.
    Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • When experienced all at once, these features can further shake an emerging adult’s already feeble sense of stability.
    Mark Travers, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2025
  • But the currency is still weak and spending still feeble, prompting fresh debate about what actions the country’s central bank should take.
    River Akira Davis, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Anyone can file a petition in probate court in Florida seeking to declare an adult incompetent to handle their own affairs, though, typically, such petitions are submitted by family members worried their elderly relatives can no longer care for themselves.
    Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 26 Feb. 2025
  • But Marshall can’t do it alone and teams up with his former high school lab partner Frances Applewhite (voiced by Emily Pendergast), who works for a sinking pharmaceutical company as the assistant to incompetent CEO Rick Kruger (voiced by executive producer Mike Judge).
    Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 3 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Netanyahu appears convinced that his country’s security, along with his own political survival, depends on prolonging the military offensives and keeping both Gaza and Lebanon ungovernable, and therefore acquiescent.
    Mohanad Hage Ali, Foreign Affairs, 1 Nov. 2024
  • The young man’s comment was out of line, and my silence felt somehow acquiescent.
    Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 21 Sep. 2024
Adjective
  • Musk and Trump must be stopped before more Americans are killed, and only those spineless Republicans in Congress can stop them.
    Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 4 Mar. 2025
  • His spineless vice president and defense secretary then echoed Trump’s garbage.
    New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 31 Jan. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Supine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/supine. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on supine

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