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Inactive vs Null - What's the difference?

inactive | null |

As adjectives the difference between inactive and null

is that inactive is not active, temporarily or permanently while null is having no validity, "null and void.

As a noun null is

a non-existent or empty value or set of values.

As a verb null is

to nullify; to annul.

inactive

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Not active, temporarily or permanently
    • The volcano is inactive , but is only dormant.
  • Not functioning or operating; broken down
    • The photocopier is inactive pending repair.
  • Retired from duty or service
    • Admiral Jones is now on the inactive list.
  • (chemistry) Relatively inert
    • Aluminium is inactive towards water.
  • (physics) Showing no optical activity in polarized light
    • Synthetic glycine is optically inactive as it contains equal amounts of the d- and l- form.

    Derived terms

    * inactively * inactivity

    Synonyms

    * (not active) dull, dormant * (not functioning or operating) idle

    Antonyms

    * (not active) active

    null

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A non-existent or empty value or set of values.
  • Zero]] quantity of [[expression, expressions; nothing.
    • (Francis Bacon)
  • Something that has no force or meaning.
  • (computing) the ASCII or Unicode character (), represented by a zero value, that indicates no character and is sometimes used as a string terminator.
  • (computing) the attribute of an entity that has no valid value.
    • Since no date of birth was entered for the patient, his age is null .
  • One of the beads in nulled work.
  • (statistics) null hypothesis

    • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having no validity, "null and void"
  • insignificant
  • * 1924 , Marcel Proust, Within a Budding Grove :
    • In proportion as we descend the social scale our snobbishness fastens on to mere nothings which are perhaps no more null than the distinctions observed by the aristocracy, but, being more obscure, more peculiar to the individual, take us more by surprise.
  • absent or non-existent
  • (mathematics) of the null set
  • (mathematics) of or comprising a value of precisely zero
  • (genetics, of a mutation) causing a complete loss of gene function, amorphic.

    • Derived terms

    * nullity

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • to nullify; to annul
    • (Milton)

    Related terms

    * annul

    See also

    * nil ----