inoperative.

1. Not working or producing the relevant effect in the context under consideration.

2. Not in force or without effect under the relevant legal or formal conditions.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• inoperative mechanism
• inoperative system

On the page

The mechanism was inoperative under the conditions used in the trial.

The system remained inoperative until the damaged component was replaced.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Normally non-gradable for a specified formal status; compare degree only where the context genuinely concerns a gradable capacity or characteristic. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: status distinction, institutional analysis, scope qualification, rights analysis. Disciplines: formal writing, institutional procedures, legal-administrative language. Commonness: moderately common.