Skip to main content
comatose

comatose

35 7.8
Unconscious and cannot be woken because of serious illness or injury
  • adjective
  • /ˈkoʊməˌtoʊs/
translation icon : comatoso
  • During the long winter months, he felt almost comatose, with no energy to do anything.
  • comatose state

Examples

  • The doctors were unsure if she would recover from her comatose state after the surgery.

  • Hospital room Terrence lies comatose under a clear plastic oxygen tent.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • But it's in this this essentially comatose state and never does anything, never thinks anything.

  • The poor thing was practically comatose.

  • An ambulance took her to Las Vegas, where she now lies comatose in intensive care.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • In the next bed is his girlfriend, Corinne, comatose and near death.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Lester went home early to lay in bed, nearly comatose, staring at the ceiling.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • If the patient is comatose, unresponsive, or uncooperative, continuous compartment monitoring should be used.

    Academic text (2004)
  • We purposely keep patients with traumatic brain injuries in a comatose state in order to calm their systems and allow the brain time to heal itself while the swelling subsides.

  • After the accident, he lay comatose in the hospital, unresponsive to any stimuli.

Synonyms

unconscious
vscomatose
243 4.2

Not awake and not able to respond to people or things

is a much deeper medical coma state rather than ordinary sleep
out cold
vscomatose
  • Informal
27 6.9

Unconscious or sleeping very deeply

is a deeper medically caused coma state rather than a temporary knock out
catatonic
vscomatose
  • Specialized
21 8.9

Unable to move or respond after a serious shock, often caused by illness

is a deeply unconscious medical coma state rather than motionless unresponsiveness
senseless
vscomatose
15 4.2

Unconscious and unable to feel or respond

is specifically a deep prolonged coma-like unresponsive medical state
semicomatose
vscomatose
  • Specialized
1 9.9

Partly unconscious and not fully able to respond to people

is a full deep unconscious state with complete lack of response
comatic
vscomatose
  • Specialized
9.9

Deeply unconscious and not responding to sound or touch

is the deep unresponsive condition occurring during an actual coma

Antonyms

179 3.8

Awake and able to feel or notice things around you

137 3.5

A state of being ready and watchful for possible danger

How Conscious

alert
82 2.8
awake
24 2.0
drowsy
22 2.7
sleeping
353 1.0
stuporous
  • Specialized
1 9.6
comatose
35 7.8
braindead
  • Specialized
1 7.9

Surface Forms

comatose positive

Morphology

comatose = coma (transparent) = coma + tose

The adjective clearly denotes being in a coma; learners who know 'coma' can infer the meaning.

Etymology

Comatose comes from the Greek word koma, which means 'deep sleep' and is the root of the English word coma. So to be comatose is to be in a very deep, unresponsive sleep, like being in a coma.