Sedentary Meaning
/ˈsɛd.ən.tɛɹ.i/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjNot moving; relatively still; staying in the vicinity.
adjLiving in a fixed geographical location; the opposite of nomadic.
Sentence Examples
Many people lead a sedentary life, which can lead to weight gain.
I need a lot more protein than a sedentary person.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Office workers often lead a ____ life because they sit at desks all day.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
His ____ lifestyle and poor diet contributed to his high blood pressure.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French sédentaire, from Latin sedentārius (“sitting”), from sedeō (“to sit, to be seated”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…]the Egyptians; whose Sages were not sedentary, scholastic Sophists, like the Grecian[…]"
— 1765 [1738], Bishop William Warburton, The Divine Legation of Moses Demonstrated, page 220:
"[…]that any education that confined itself to sedentary pursuits was essentially imperfect, that the body as well as the mind should be cultivated[…]"
— 1844 October 3, Benjamin Disraeli, The Acquirement of Knowledge, An address delivered to the members of the Manchester Athenæum:
"There is, however, a gap between the athletic games that were played by large groups of men and the sedentary games that are confined to a few players, which I find it difficult to bridge."
— 1952, H[arold] J[ames] R[uthven] Murray, “The Distribution and Origin of Board-Games”, in A History of Board-Games Other Than Chess, Oxford, Oxfordshire: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 233:
"Such restless revolution day by day
Repeated, while the sedentary earth
That better might with far less compass move[…]"
— 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
"The Soul, considered abstractedly from its Passions, is of a remiss and sedentary Nature, slow in its Resolves, and languishing in its Executions."
— 1711 December 22, Joseph Addison, “No. 255”, in The Spectator:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Office workers often lead a ____ life because they sit at desks all day.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
His ____ lifestyle and poor diet contributed to his high blood pressure.