sedentary

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 21, 2025 is: sedentary \SED-un-tair-ee\ adjective Something described as sedentary does or involves a lot of sitting. Sedentary can also mean "not physically active" (as in "a sedentary lifestyle") or "not migratory" (as in "sedentary birds" or "a sedentary civilization"). // Editing the dictionary is a sedentary job. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sedentary) Examples: "From open offices to home workstations, employees across industries invested in sit-stand setups with the hope of counteracting sedentary lifestyles." — Michelle Stansbury, Forbes, 25 Aug. 2025 Did you know? Sedentary comes from the Latin verb sedēre, meaning "to sit." Other descendants of sedēre include [dissident](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dissident), [insidious](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/insidious), [preside](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preside), [reside](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reside), and [subsidy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subsidy). Sedēre is also the base of the rare [sedens](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sedens), a noun that refers to a person who remains a resident of the place or region of their birth.