dead
- adjective
- /dɛd/
- The abandoned house was eerily dead, with no signs of life or movement.
- dead in its tracks
- dead air
- a dead city
But the idea of the lecture being dead is totally wrong.
- But the idea of the lecture being dead is totally wrong.
- And those areas aren't dead, but they're struggling.
- Like it was like really dead, like locals.
- And there was this big dead silence over the room.
- She looked like a dead dead like like a wash rag.
- Yeah, just like, just like dead hair, you know, like fried hair.
Examples
-
The river was dead, without a single ripple disturbing its still surface.
-
After the accident, the once vibrant party felt dead and lifeless.
-
We have a dead plant over here.
-
It's like... it's like a dead room in here.
-
The city will be dead.
-
And there was this big dead silence over the room.
-
It was dead in here last night.
-
There was an instant of dead stillness in which the ice seemed to grow transparent.
Fiction book (1990) -
Chivalry may be dead, but I didn't kill it.
Synonyms
Not moving and showing no signs of people or animals
Very pale, still, or quiet like someone who is dead
People say someone is not alive in a gentle, respectful way
A person who is not alive, used in formal or respectful speech
Completely without life or totally not working
Pale and motionless like someone who is dead
Looks very pale and still like a dead person
Not living any more, for example a person or animal
Antonyms
Idioms
- Informal
Continuing to talk about something already decided and pointless
Compounds
- Specialized
A person with no brain activity and no chance to get better, though the body may still work
- Jargon
A secret place where people leave messages or items for others to collect without meeting
A group of ancient Hebrew and Aramaic writings found in caves near the Dead Sea
- Specialized
To estimate your position using direction, distance, and past information without tools
- Specialized
A position where the piston and rod are straight so the engine cannot turn
- Literature
A phrase that once made a clear picture but now feels literal like 'leg of a table'
A small plant with leaves like stinging nettles that does not sting when touched, often in gardens
- Specialized
A space with no air movement between layers that helps keep heat in or out
- Specialized
Material made by heating limestone until it stops reacting and does not bind well
- UK
A cold room in hospitals and funeral homes that holds dead bodies before burial or cremation
A phrase used to describe famous white European men from history who stand for traditional ideas
A position for floating face down in the water with arms stretched forward to rest and breathe
- Specialized
A species or group that cannot have young and so ends its family line
A European plant from the mint family with white flowers that looks like stinging nettles but does not sting
How Lively
Surface Forms
Etymology
Dead comes from an old English word meaning 'not alive', and that idea of 'no life' was used for places or things with 'no movement' or energy. That's why we call quiet or still conditions 'dead', like 'dead air' or 'dead water'.